THE  CRITIC 
IN  THE  OCCIDENT 

GEORGE  HAMLIN  FITCH 


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THE  CRITIC 
IN  THE  OCCIDENT 


'S    to 

lace  in  all  Europe 
s  Buried  Roman 
easure  City  the 
hes  of  Vesuvius 
ve  Preserved  for 
or  Two  Thousan 
art.    Here  is  the 
et  of  Abundance, 
th  Pavement  of 
I  Blocks,  Stepping 
nes  and  a  Public 
inking  Fountain 

IS 

</5  ^ 

THE  CRITIC 
IN  THE  OCCIDENT 


GEORGE  HAMLIN  FITCH 

AUTHOR  OF 

"COMFORT  FOUND  IN  GOOD  OLD  BOOKS" 

"MODERN  ENGLISH  BOOKS  OF  POWER" 

"THE  CRITIC  IN  THE  ORIENT" 


As  the  Spanish  pro-verb  says: 

*'//f  "who  "Would  brinjT  home  the 

•wealth  of  the  Indies  must  carry  the 

•wealth  of  the  Indies  with  him."   Se  it 

is  in  Ira-veling:  a   man   must  carry 

knowledge  tvith  him  if  he  "would 

bring  home  kno^wledge  — 

Bos'weir  s  Life  of 

Johnson 


ILLUSTRATED 

FROM 
PHOTOGRAPHS 


PAUL  ELDER  AND  COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS  •  SAN  FRANCISCO 


Copyright,  igij 
by  Paul  Elder  and  Company 

Most  of  the  Chapters  of 

This  Book  Appeared  Originally  in  the 

Sunday  Supplement  of  the  San  Francisco  Chronicle. 

The  Privilege  of  Reproducing  Them 

Here  is  Due  to  the  Courtesy  of 

M.  H.  de  Young,  Esq. 


TO  THOSE  WHO  ARE  ONLY  ABLE 

TO  TRAVEL  BY  PROXY,  THESE  IMPRES- 

SIONS  OF  EUROPE  ARE  DEDICATED, 

WITH  THE  HOPE  THAT  THEY 

MAY  YIELD  PLEASURE 

AND  PROFIT 


Contents 

Pack 
Introduction ix 

The  Best  Fruits  of  Travel  in  the  Occident    .        .         .        xiii 

Greece,  the  Fountainhead  of  all  Art  and  Letters  ,        .  i 

Aden  at  th«  Gateway  of  the  Red  Sea— Steaming  Through 
the  Suez  Canal-Sailing  Among  the  Historic  Isles  of 
Greece-The  Acropolis  and  The  Parthenon  of  Athens- 
Remains  of  Ancient  Art  in  Athens. 

Italy,  Home  of  Art  and  Monuments  .  .  .  .  .33 
Naples  and  Its  Treasures  of  Art-Scenes  in  Gay  and 
Noisy  Naples-Ancient  Roman  Life  as  Seen  in  Pompeii- 
Romance  and  Beauty  of  Roman  Ruins- Art  in  St.  Peter's 
and  the  Vatican— The  Colosseum  and  Along  the  Ap- 
pian  Way  — Hadrian's  Tomb  and  His  Villa  at  Tivoli— 
Florence  and  Its  Many  Art  Treasures- Venice,  City  of 
Romance  and  Beauty. 

France,  Land  of  Romance,  Thrift  and  Artistic  Life       .       93 
Monte  Carlo  and  Its  Gilded   Gambling    Palace- Paris, 
the  City  of  Magnificent  Vistas- Rich  Art  Treasures  of 
the  Louvre— Churches  and  Monuments  of  Paris— Some 
of  the  Famous  Museums  of  Paris. 

London,  Seat  of  the  Founders  of  World-Wide  Empire  .  121 
London,  Huge,  Smoke-Begrimed  and  Impressive-St. 
Paul's  and  Westminster  Abbey-History  Seen  in  the 
Tower  of  London— A  Famous  Debate  in  the  Commons  — 
The  British  Museum  and  Picture  Galleries  — Literary 
Shrines  and  Haunts  in  London. 

New  York,  the  Skyscraping  Marvel  of  the  New  World     149 
Impressions  of  New  York  After  Seven  Years  — Barbaric 
Display  of  Wealth  on  Fifth  Avenue-New  York's   Big 
Museum,  Free  Library  and  Many  Parks. 

Tips  to  the  Tourist '65 

Hints  for  Seeing  Things  and  Buying  Things  That  May 
Help  the  Traveler. 

Bibliography '"9 

Books  Which  Throw  Light  on  the  History,  Art  and 
People  of  European  Countries. 

Index.  '74 


[V] 


Illustrations 

A  Street  in  Pompeii Frontispiece  paof. 

Statue  of  Ferdinand  dc  I.csscps,  at  Port  Said   .        .      Facing  12 

The  Portico  ot  the  Temple  of  Pallas  Athena  at  Athens      .  26 

The  Arch  ot  Titus  in  the  Roman  Forum       .         .         ,  56 

Michelangelo's  Heroic  Statue  ot  the  Young  David    .           .  70 

The  Tomb  ot  Napoleon 108 

The  Winged  Vidory  of  Samothrace  .         .        .         .          .  114. 

The  Chapel  of  Henry   VII,  Westminster  Abbey,  London  I  28 

The  Main  Facade  of  Westminster  Abbey      ...  142 

Looking  Down  Lower  Broadway,  New  York  .        .           .  156 

Plates 

Greece  .......     Following  page  3  2  Plate 

The  Large  Arab  City  Back  of  Aden         ....  i 

A  Steamer  Passing  Along  the  Suez  Canal    ...  11 

Eastern  Entrance  to  the  Canal  at  Suez     ....  I'l 

The  City  and  Harbor  of  Corfu    .....  iv 

One  of  the  Walks  in  the  Grounds  of  the  Achilleon        .  v 

The  Main  Facade  of  the  Parthenon     ....  vi 

General  View  of  Athens  With  Entrance  to  Stadium       .  vii 

The  Theater  ofDionysius viii 

The  Thesion,  Best  Preserved  Greek  Temple,  Athens     .  ix 

The  Graceful  Arch  Erefted  by  Emperor  Hadrian      .  x 

The  Temple  of  Athena  Nike  on  the  Acropolis       .        .  xi 

A  Distant  View  of  the  Acropolis xii 

The  Choragic  Monument  of  Lysicrates   ....  iiii 

Great  Stadium  at  Athens  Seen  During  Olympian  Games  xiv 

Statuette  of  the  Figure  of  Athena  by  Phidias   ...  xv 

The  "Three  Fates"  From  the  Parthenon   ...  xvi 

Italy      .......     Following  page  92 

General  View  of  Naples  and  Its  Beautiful  Harbor       .  xvii 

Remains  of  the  Forum  in  Pompeii    .....  xviii 

The  Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  Rome          ....  xix 

General  View  of  the  Roman  Forum         ....  xx 

The  Fountain  of  Trevi  .......  xxi 

St.  Peter's  at  Rome xxii 

One  of  the  Galleries  of  Statuary  in  the  Vatican    .      .  xxiii 

Monument  to  Three  Stuarts  in  St.  Peter's     .        .  xxiv 

The  Great  Cypresses  in  the  Villa  d'Este         .        .        .  xxv 


[VI.] 


Plates  p,,„ 

The  Interior  of  the  Roman  Colosseum        .        .        .  xxvi 

The  Ruins  of  the  Colosseum    ......  xxvii 

Pifturesque  Medieval  Houses  on  the  Bank  of  the  Arno  xxviii 

The  Square  ot  St.  Mark,  Venice      ....  xxix 

The  Palace  of  the  Doges  and  Lirtle  Square  of  St.  Mark  xxx 

Ca  d'Oro  or  House  of  Gold         .....  xxxi 

The  Historic  Bridge  of  Sighs xxxii 

France Following  page  l  20 

A  Charafteristic  View  on  the  French  Riviera         .        .  xxxiii 

The  Boulevard  des  Anglais,  Main  Promenade  of  Nice  xxxiv 

In  the  Grounds  of  the  Palace  of  Versailles,  near  Paris    .  xxxv 

Main  Gambling  Hall  at  Monte  Carlo          .         .        .  xxxvi 

Avenue  des  Champs-Elysees,  Paris xxxvii 

Church  and  Boulevard  of  the  Madeleine      .        .        .       xxxviii 

Place  de  la  Concorde  ........  xxxix 

Gallery  of  Apollo,  Finest  Room  in  the  Louvre     ,        .  xl 

The  Louvre  and  the  Tuileries  Gardens   ....  XLi 

Monument  to  Gambetta,  in  the  Square  of  the  Louvre  xlii 

Dome  of  the  Invalides XLiii 

Death  Mask  oi  Napoleon xuv 

Arc  dc  Triomphe,  in  the  Place  de  I'Etoile        .       .        .  xlv 

Cathedral  of  Notre  Dame xlvi 

Main  Staircase  of  the  Grand  Opera  House     .        .         .  xlvii 

The  Palais  Royal xlviii 

London Following  page  1 48 

Mansion  House  and  Cheapside xlix 

On  the  Thames  Embankment  ......  l 

English  Parliament  Buildings  and  Westminster  Bridge  li 

Trafalgar  Square  ....,..••  L" 

In  the  British  House  of  Commons       ....  Lin 

The  "Old  Curiosity  Shop"  of  Dickens  .        .        .        .  liv 

Carlyle's  House  in  Cheyne  Row,  Chelsea  ...  Lv 

The  Garden  of  Carlyle's  House Lvi 

New  York Following  page  162 

Brooklyn  Bridge,  From  the  East  Side    ....  LVll 

The  Woolworth  Building LViii 

Main  Waiting-room  of  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Station  Lix 

Looking  South  on  Broadway      ...          ...  LX 

New  York  Public  Library  at  Night      ....  LXi 

Wall  Street,  Looking  Toward  Trinity  Church        .        .  LXil 

New  Municipal  Building LXiii 

Sky-line  of  Lower  New  York LXiv 

[Vlll] 


Introduction 

ZlKE^^The  Critic  in  the  Orient^''  this  is  a  record  of 
f  impressions.  Here  will  be  found  my  impressions  of 
the  last  half  of  a  seven  months'  tour  around  the  world. 
What  other  observers  saw  and  what  they  thought 
had  little  influence  with  me^  except  in  the  case  of  the 
old  masters  in  painting.  For  the  piBures  of  those  who 
tried  to  put  their  religious  aspirations  on  canvas  in  the 
Renaissance  of  Italy ^  I  could  summon  little  enthusiasm. 
A  few  of  these  pictures  had  the  dewy  freshness  that  is 
found  in  the  pages  of  old  Thomas  a  Kempis;  but  the 
great  mass  of  them— covering  acres  of  the  galleries  of 
Europe— awoke  no  spiritual  response.  Yet  of  the  great 
pictures  I  never  tired,  and  again  and  again  I  spent 
hours  before  them  until  I  could  flash  them  up  on  that 
^^ inward  eye,''  and  thus  make  them  a  part  of  my  mental 
possessions,  like  great  poems  or  splendid  music. 

The  Vatican,  the  Pitti  and  the  Uffizi,  the  Louvre 
and  the  Luxembourg,  the  National,  Tate  and  Wallace- 
all  these  have  miles  on  miles  of  paintings  that  one 
never  cares  to  see  a  second  time;  but  each  of  these  col- 
le^ions  has  a  few  really  great  pictures,  which  give  one 
pleasure  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  The  famous  statues  of 
the  world  may  be  studied  with  some  satisfaofion  from 
large  photographs,  but  the  great  pi^ures  must  be  seen 
in  the  originals— no  copies,  no  photographs  give  any  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  spirit  of  the  artist,  that  bridges  all 
the  years  and  speaks  to  the  sympathetic  mind  like  a  real 
voice  across  the  centuries. 

The  greatest  things  Europe  had  to  offer  me  were 
the  Parthenon,  the  Colosseum  and  the  ruins  of  Pom- 
peii, the  tomb  of  Napoleon,  and  the  statue  of  Crom- 
well in  the  shadow  of  the  English  Parliament  buildings. 

[IX] 


IntroduBion 

The  Parthenon  represents  the  perfe5i  measure^  the 
love  of  beauty  and  the  religious  aspirations  of  the  an- 
cient Greeks  the  supreme  expression  of  art  and  patriot- 
ism^ the  greatest  monument  ever  reared  to  the  genius  of 
a  nation. 

The  Roman  Colosseum  and  Pompeii^  revealing  di- 
verse traits  of  Roman  character  ^  reproduced  for  me  the 
tread  of  Rome  s  invincible  legions  more  perfectly  than 
the  ruins  of  the  Forum  or  the  tomb  of  Hadrian;  these 
four  summed  up  laWy  conquest,  government,  the  building 
of  the  greatest  empire  the  world  has  ever  seen. 

From  boyhood  one  of  my  hobbies  was  to  read  every- 
thing on  Napoleon;  so  when  I  stood  under  the  dome  of 
the  Invalides  and  looked  down  on  the  bier  of  the  great 
conqueror,  surrounded  by  faded  and  shot-torn  battle- 
flags,  it  seemed  as  though  here  brooded  in  very  truth 
the  unquenchable  spirit  of  the  man  who  was  the  fore- 
most warrior  and  administrator  of  the  modern  world. 

London  has  a  powerful  appeal  to  the  American, 
but  beyond  everything  else  the  figure  of  dour  old  Oliver 
Cromwell,  with  his  iron  jaw  and  grim  unyielding  mouth, 
dominates  the  imagination.  It  represents  the  unquestion- 
ing religious  faith,  the  ingrained  honesty,  the  passion 
for  governing,  the  genius  for  material  conquest,  that  has 
made  England  the  greatest  world-power  of  the  last 
hundred  years. 

The  discomforts,  the  annoyances  of  travel  soon  pass, 
but  what  the  wise  tourist  holds  fast  is  these  great 
things  which  typify  the  spiritual  aspirations  of  the  var- 
ious peoples.  And  when  he  returns  to  his  own  country 
and  catches  the  first  glimpse  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty, 
he  feels  that  here  is  the  land  of  opportunity,  which  has 
shown  the  toilers  of  the  Old  IVorld  a  new  test  of  man- 
hood, a  new  measure  of  efficiency— a  refuge  where  a 
man  is  free  to  work  out  his  own  salvation,  hampered 
by  no  manacles  of  family,  caste,  creed  or  condition. 

\A 


The  Best 

Fruits  of  Travel  in 

the  Occident 


The  Best 
Fruits  of  Travel  in 

the  Occident 


/'N'-^The  Critic  in  the  Orient^'  a  companion  volume 
to  this^  I  have  set  down  my  impressions  of  the  first 
half  of  a  voyage  around  the  world.  That  book  includes 
sketches  of  Japan^  Manila^  Canton^  Hongkong^  Singa- 
pore^ Rangoon^  India  and  Egypt.  In  this  second  vol- 
ume I  have  tried  to  reproduce  my  impressions  of  some 
of  the  most  interesting  places  in  Europe.  Unusual  cold 
barred  me  from  Switzerland  and  Germany^  but  I  was 
fortunate  in  seeing  Italy  very  thoroughly^  and  Italy 
holds  the  same  place  in  Europe  as  India  in  the  Orient - 
the  land  richest  in  art^  archite^ure  and  a  storied  past. 
What  you  bring  away  with  you  from  a  tour  of 
Europe^  depends  largely  upon  your  reading.  If  through 
great  writers  you  know  intimately  the  history^  art  and 
architecture  of  a  country^  you  will  find  that  your  travels 
serve  mainly  to  stamp  indelibly  upon  the  memory  many 
of  the  impressions  formed  from  the  books  you  have  read. 
Even  the  best  guide  books  are  unsatisfa^ory:  they  give 
merely  the  skeleton  of  history  and  art  which  your  read- 
ing must  transform  into  flesh  and  bloody  or  you  lose  the 
best  part  of  the  fruits  of  travel.  The  wider  your  read- 
ings especially  of  poetry  and  romance.,  the  richer  will  be 
your  recolle5lions  of  historic  places. 

Americans  are  too  apt  to  negleEl  this  readings  which 
forms  a  vital  part  of  the  education  of  the  European. 
Historic  palaces ^  storied  temples^  famous  paintings ^  im- 
mortal statues  awake  in  their  minds  no  echoes  of  the 
words  of  the  great  writers  who  have  pictured  them 

[xiii] 


The  Best  Fruits  of  Travel  in  the  Occident 

for  all  generations.  Hence  they  lose  that  perfect  blend- 
ing of  romance  and  reality^  as  one  does  who  listens  to  a 
great  opera  of  which  he  knows  neither  the  words  nor 
the  story. 

My  plan  was  to  prepare  a  schedule  of  the  places  to 
see  in  each  city  in  the  order  of  their  interest.  This 
schedule  I  followed  diligently^  and  if  time  did  not  per- 
mit me  to  complete  it  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  no  place  of  first  importance  had  been  missed.  The 
artistic,  historical  and  literary  shrines  were  those 
which  appealed  to  me  the  most  strongly.  My  time  did 
not  permit  of  a  study  of  education^  charity,  civic  prob- 
lems and  other  subjects  of  living  interest. 

Most  of  these  chapters  were  written  on  the  spot, 
when  my  impressions  were  sharp  and  clear,  but  those 
on  Monte  Carlo  and  Literary  Shrines  of  London  have 
not  appeared  in  print  before.  All  the  chapters  have 
been  revised  and  in  many  cases  partly  rewritten,  as  the 
perspective  of  time  compels  changes.  The  effort  has 
been  made  here,  as  in  my  previous  book,  to  give  the 
reader  at  home  as  faithful  and  as  vivid  a  picture  as 
possible  of  these  strange  lands  and  peoples. 

Actual  contact  with  people  works  many  changes  in 
one's  views.  From  my  reading  I  never  had  any  fond- 
ness  for  the  Latin  races;  yet  when  I  saw  the  Italians 
and  the  French  at  home  I  found  in  each  race  many  fine 
qualities  that  I  had  missed  in  my  study  of  books. 

The  illustrations,  which  I  have  tried  to  seleCt  from 
unhackneyed  photographs,  have  been  massed  at  the  end 
of  each  division  of  the  book,  as  it  seems  to  me  that  this 
arrangement  makes  a  stronger  impression  on  the  mind 
than  the  usual  method  of  scattering  them  through  the 
text.  Each  picture  has  been  given  a  very  full  descrip- 
tive caption,  thus  adding  to  its  interest.  In  every  way 
I  have  labored  to  make  this  book  appeal  to  the  eye  as 
well  as  to  the  mind. 

[xiv] 


^he  Best  Fruits  of  Travel  in  the  Occident 

'The  trip  through  the  Suez  Canal  has  been  included 
because  of  the  strong  interest  of  Americans  in  the 
greater  canal  at  Panama.  A  comparison  of  these  two 
ditches  of  commerce  would  be  as  futile  as  to  compare 
one  of  the  great  locomotives  that  hauls  a  train  over  the 
Sierra  Nevada  with  the  crude  railroad  engine  of  thirty 
years  ago.  'The  towering  monoliths  of  concrete^  the  tre- 
mendous Gatun  locks  with  their  massive  steel  gates— 
these  are  lacking  at  Suez^yet  the  Panama  Canal  will 
be  fortunate  if  it  proves  financially  as  successful  as  the 
canal  which  the  genius  of  De  Lesseps  made  possible. 

Athens  is  not  usually  included  in  a  European  tour^ 
mainly  because  of  the  poor  arrangements  for  travel  in 
Greece;  but  one  misses  much  who  does  not  see  this  city^ 
the  fount ainhead  of  all  our  literature  and  art.  Here 
in  Athens  one's  reading  goes  to  the  wall.  The  Parthe- 
non has  been  described  as  often  as  the  Sphinx^  yet  the 
sight  of  this  noblest  structure  ever  reared  by  ynan  is 
something  which  makes  all  literary  art  seem  poor  and 
weak.  Perhaps  Robert  Hichens,  who  has  made  the 
great  desert  of  Sahara  so  real  in  "  The  Garden  of 
Allah^'  has  drawn  the  finest  pen-pi^ure  of  the  Par- 
thenon. He  dwells  on  the  fa5l  that  though  it  is  won- 
derfully simple  and  severe, yet  it  produces'''- an  over- 
powering impression  of  sublimity  and  grandeur.'^  And 
then  he  adds  this  illuminating  sentence,  which  sums  up 
all  that  can  be  said  of  it :  '■'■It  seems  to  me  that  the 
impression  created  by  the  Parthenon  as  a  building  is 
akin  to  that  created  by  the  Sphinx  as  a  statue.  It  sug- 
gests-seems  a^ually  to  send  out  like  an  atmosphere— 
a  tremendous  calm,  far  beyond  the  limit s  of  ayiy  severity." 

This  calm  of  the  ancient  world— the  same  calm  that 
is  seen  in  the  ^^  Antigone''  and  the '■'■  RleBr a" —breathes 
from  the  Parthenon  and  the  whole  Acropolis  of  Athens. 
It  seems  as  though  across  the  centuries  it  carries  a 
message  to  us  in  this  age  of  fret  and  worry  and  stren- 

[XV] 


The  Best  Fruits  of  Travel  in  the  Occident 

uous  work,  which  often  ends  in  such  small  achievement. 
It  seems  to  say:  ^^  Look  on  my  serene  beauty,  which  has 
survived  the  sea-winds  and  the  rains  of  over  two  thou- 
sand years,  and  take  a  lesson  in  the  gospel  of  the  sensi- 
ble life.  Seek  beauty  in  art  and  literature,  study  the 
repose  that  brings  real  rest:  so  will  enter  into  you 
something  of  those  god-given  traits  which  have  made 
me  immortal^ 

"This  message,  which  you  get  from  the  Parthenon, 
is  worth  all  the  trouble  of  the  journey  to  Athens.  No 
other  place  in  the  whole  world  gives  you  this  direct 
word  of  mouth  from  the  old  Greek  life,  in  which  men 
walked  as  gods  and  did  god-like  work  that  remains  for- 
ever matchless  and  forever  young. 

We  have  thrown  away  much  of  the  fine  spirit  of 
the  antique  world  in  discarding  the  study  of  the  classics: 
so  we  should  draw  from  such  remains  as  the  Parthenon 
something  of  the  old  Greek  spirit  that  will  serve  to 
neutralize  the  fierce  greed  for  money  and  display  which 
is  eating  out  the  heart  of  the  best  American  virtues. 
The  choragic  monument  of  Lysicrates  in  Athens, 
which  he  set  up  to  commemorate  his  victory  in  a  musi- 
cal and  dramatic  contest,  may  seem  childish  to  the 
average  American;  yet  it  represents  a  far  higher  type 
of  real  achievement  than  the  libraries  given  by  Carnegie, 
or  the  medical  laboratories  founded  by  Rockefeller  from 
his  spoils  of  fifty  years  of  fierce  commercial  warfare. 

If  the  artisan  of  to-day  could  get  something  of  the 
love  of  beauty  and  the  desire  for  perfection  that  made 
the  old  Greek  builder  a  real  artist,  then  we  should  hear 
less  of  the  war  between  labor  and  capital,  and  see  none 
of  that  unlovely  spirit  of  "  working  by  the  clock,**  which 
has  made  the  name  of  the  trades  union  an  offense  in  the 
nostrils  of  all  who  love  fair  play  and  honest  labor. 

"  The  sunny  land  of  France"  one  finds  an  apt  title  as 
he  travels  across  it  from  Nice  to  Paris.    The  recollec- 

[XV  i] 


The  Best  Fruits  of  Travel  in  the  Occident 

tion  remains  of  long  rows  of  slender  poplars^  of  fruit 
trees  trained  in  artistic  shapes  against  southern  walls 
and  vines  clambering  over  pretty  trellises^ofchateaus  and 
cathedrals  and  farm  houses^  of  flashing  rivers  spanned 
by  noble  bridges^  and  of  roads  walled  by  solid  rock  and 
looking  as  though  made  for  all  time.  So  one  comes  to 
PariSy  which  is  genuinely  French  in  its  gayety,  its  artis- 
tic traits  and  its  fulness  of  life. 

Paris  as  it  comes  back  to  me  in  mental  vision  is 
always  the  city  that  one  sees  from  the  top  of  the  great 
arch  which  Napoleon  reared  at  the  head  of  the  Champs- 
Elysees  to  commemorate  his  victories.  'This  largest  arch 
in  the  world  overlooks  the  splendid  avenue  that  leads 
straight  as  an  arrow  down  to  the  Place  de  la  Concorde^ 
and  then  on  to  the  lesser  archy  in  imitation  of  that  of 
Septimus  SeveruSy  to  the  Place  de  Carrousel.  From 
this  great  arch  radiate  eleven  broad  avenues.  Many 
have  declared  these  avenues  monotonouSy  but  to  me  the 
scheme  of  Baron  Haussmann  has  made  Paris  the  most 
impressive  city  of  the  world. 

These  fine  vistas  for  which  he  sacrificed  all  other 
consider ationSy  with  the  Seine  and  its  many  superb 
bridges y  make  the  general  view  of  Paris  one  that  lingers 
in  the  memory.  Napoleon  added  to  the  effect  by  a  Ro- 
man solidity  and  grandeur  in  the  public  buildings  y  arches 
and  monuments  that  he  reared.  The  Madeleine  alone 
would  serve  to  keep  his  name  green.  Under  the  dome 
of  the  Invalides  his  ashes  resty  but  his  spirit  lives  in 
this  noble  city  which  he  did  so  much  to  make  the  great- 
est pleasure  city  of  the  world.  Its  two  score  museums 
make  Paris  a  place  of  delight  to  anyone  fond  of  arty  and 
its  theaters y  cafes  and  concert  halls  attract  all  in  search 
of  entertainment. 

To  sum  up  one' s  impressions  of  London  in  a  page 
seems  well  nigh  impossible y  so  colossal  is  this  greatest 
city  of  the  worldySo  varied  its  interest  to  the  Ameri- 

[xvii] 


T^he  Best  Fruits  of  Travel  in  the  Occident 
can,  so  appalling  its  contrast  between  imperial  luxury 
and  abject  poverty.  The  likeness  of  language  and  reli- 
gion makes  it  seem  like  home  after  months  in  strange 
lands,  where  the  spoken  word  is  gibberish  that  carries 
no  meaning.  The  honesty,  the  solidity,  the  very  com- 
placency of  the  Englishman  makes  a  strong  appeal  to 
the  American,  and  nowhere  is  this  appeal  put  in  stronger 
terms  than  in  the  modern  Babylon,  with  its  tremendous 
concentration  of  wealth  and  power  and  tradition. 

London  epitomizes  for  the  American  all  English 
history,  and  this  history  the  transatlantic  tourist  ab- 
sorbs unconsciously,  whether  in  the  magnificent  West- 
minster Abbey,  or  on  top  of  one  of  the  countless  buses 
from  which  he  may  pick  out  the  familiar  names  which 
he  has  known  from  childhood  through  Mother  Goose, 
the  old  ballads,  the  histories  which  recount  the  stirring 
deeds  in  this  town  from  the  time  of  Norman  William, 
and  the  novels  of  Fielding,  Scott,  Dickens,  Thackeray, 
Trollope,  Bulwer,  Gissing  and  Wells.  These  things  are 
in  his  blood  and  he  gets  thrills  at  every  street  crossing. 
At  last  when  the  traveler  crosses  the  Atlantic  and 
catches  sight  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty  looming  grandiose 
through  the  fog,  he  knows  that  the  spirit  of  patriotism 
has  not  been  lost  in  this  welter  of  strange  lands  and 
queer  people.  And  when  that  gigantic  sky-line  of  New 
Tork  skyscrapers  rises  huge  and  menacing,  like  a  section 
of  the  Grand  Canyon,  he  feels  a  thrill  that  nothing  in 
Europe  or  the  Orient  was  able  to  arouse. 

Later,  when  riding  or  walking  in  Broadway  or 
Fifth  avenue,  with  their  arrogant  display  of  immense 
wealth  thrown  full  in  one's  face,  he  sees  that  in  this 
new  land  are  marvels  of  energy,  defiance  of  tradition, 
success  of  the  impossible,  limitless  possibilities  of  growth 
and  power.  And  so  he  goes  home  with  a  new  apprecia- 
tion of  the  size  of  the  world,  the  breadth  of  human 
sympathy  and  the  kinship  of  the  nations. 

[xviii] 


^he  Best  Fruits  of  Travel  in  the  Occident 

After  your  impressions  of  Europe  have  settled  and 
clarified^  you  find  one  feature  very  conspicuous.  This  is 
the  radically  different  attitude  toward  life  of  the  Euro- 
pean and  the  American.  In  every  European  country 
the  ambition  of  men  is  to  acquire  a  competence^  and 
then  to  retire  and  enjoy  life.  In  this  country ^  although 
a  man  may  deceive  himself  with  the  hope  of  getting 
out  of  harness^  he  seldom  withdraws  from  active  work. 
The  American  in  business  life  or  in  the  professions^ 
works  for  the  mere  sake  of  achieving  things-a  spirit 
absolutely  alien  to  the  Old  World.  Most  young  men 
in  Europe^  who  are  heirs  to  large  fortunes^  simply 
learn  how  to  conserve  and  administer  their  property ; 
they  seldom  give  any  thought  to  increasing  it^  and  they 
do  as  little  a5lual  work  as  possible.  Many  have  intel- 
le^ual  hobbies^  and  in  this  way  make  their  fortunes 
yield  them  fame. 

In  America^  the  heir  of  millions  usually  works  as 
hard  as  his  fathers  clerks,  or  else  he  spends  his  tune 
and  his  money  in  dissipation.  Even  the  large  American 
cities  have  pra^ically  no  leisure  class.  A  man  who 
wishes  to  live  without  work  usually  finds  the  atmos- 
phere in  America  uncongenial;  he  must  go  to  European 
cities  to  find  associates  in  sympathy  with  his  ideas  of 
enjoying  a  life  of  leisure. 

On  my  way  to  Greece  I  met  a  genial  and  learned 
physician  from  Amsterdam,  who  spoke  excellent  English 
and  who  was  a  genuine  philosopher.  In  discussing  na- 
tional chara^er,  he  defined  the  dominant  American  trait 
as  love  of  work.  ^^  I  spent  three  months  in  America,'  he 
said,  '■^  and  everywhere  I  went  I  found  professional  and 
business  men  actually  in  love  with  their  work.  Few 
had  any  literary  or  scientific  hobbies;  few  were  book- 
lovers  or  read  regularly  the  standard  authors,  but  all 
were  so  enamored  of  their  chosen  work  that  they  never 
tired  of  the  labor  of  the  office.    In  Europe  a  man  sel- 

[x,x] 


T^he  Best  Fruits  of  Travel  in  the  Occident 

dom  works  more  than  he  is  compelled  to,  in  order  to 
make  a  comfortable  living,  and  he  always  looks  forward 
to  retirement  between  fifty  and  sixty  years  of  age.  He 
is  satisfied  with  a  certain  fixed  income  which  permits 
him  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  his  station.  But  in  Amer- 
ica every  man  I  met  had  an  insatiable  ambition  to 
achieve  things,  irrespective  of  the  money  results.  Able 
engineers  who  had  made  large  fortunes  were  still  keen 
to  develop  new  ideas  and  bring  the  great  forces  of 
nature  into  harness.  Great  railroad  managers  were 
reaching  out  to  perfeEl  new  systems  and  combinations, 
and  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  labor.  And  so  it  was 
in  every  department  of  American  life.  I  have  two 
sons,  and  I  intend  when  they  are  eighteen  to  send  them 
to  America  for  an  education,  at  such  a  college  as  Cor- 
nell or  Stanford,  in  order  that  they  may  absorb  some- 
thing of  this  love  of  work,  which  I  regard  as  the  great 
driving  force  that  has  led  to  American  achievements 
in  the  material  and  scientific  world.'* 

This  sums  up  the  radical  difference  between  the 
Old  and  the  New  World.  We  would  gain  enormously 
by  absorbing  the  European  spirit  of  culture  and  enjoy- 
ment of  intellectual  and  artistic  things;  but  it  would 
be  a  national  misfortune  should  this  country  ever  lose 
its  keen  desire  to  achieve  things,  and  to  make  life  bet- 
ter worth  living  for  the  man  who  labors  in  the  sweat 
of  his  brow. 


[XX] 


GREECE,  THE 

FOUNTAINHEAD  OF  ALL 

ART  AND  LETTERS 


Aden  at 

THE  Gateway  of  the 

Red  Sea 


COLOMBO,  the  capital  of  Ceylon,  is  the  back- 
door of  the  mysterious  Orient  to  one  who 
travels  westward.  Ifone  sees  Colombo  on  the 
voyage  from  Europe  before  he  has  seen  India  and 
the  Malayan  coast  it  must  seem  very  strange,  novel 
and  distindively  Oriental;  but  after  Singapore,  Ben- 
ares, Delhi  and  Bombay  it  has  little  to  offer  the  tour- 
ist. The  harbor  is  artificial,  like  the  harbor  of  Bom- 
bay; it  would  be  an  open  roadstead,  exposed  to  the 
full  fury  of  every  storm  were  it  not  for  a  fine  break- 
water. Even  with  this,  when  the  southwest  monsoon 
blows,  the  waves  sweep  over  this  breakwater  and 
made  it  dangerous  for  sampans  in  the  inner  harbor. 
Colombo  has  few  public  buildings  that  can  make  any 
pretense  to  architeftural  beauty,  but  it  has  many  fine 
homes  on  Colpetty  road,  beyond  the  Galle  Face 
Hotel,  which  is  built  on  the  seashore.  The  climate 
is  much  like  that  of  Bombay,  with  steamy,  enervat- 
ing heat  and  an  atmosphere  that  is  destitute  of  all 
life.  The  mixture  of  races  is  as  great  as  in  Bombay, 
with  the  addition  of  the  Cingalese.  This  race  may 
be  distinguished  by  the  round  tortoise-shell  combs 
worn  by  the  men  to  keep  their  long  hair  in  place. 
The  women  resemble  the  Hindoos  in  dress  and 
in  their  fondness  for  jewelry  and  nose  rings.  Much 
of  the  hard  manual  labor  here  is  done  by  the  coal- 
black  Tamils  of  Southern  India.    The  Cingalese  ap- 


[3] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

pear  to  fancy  trade  and  the  lighter  occupations.  The 
streets  are  full  of  pedlers,  who  are  more  persistent 
in  their  demands  to  buy  than  in  any  Indian  city. 

Colombo  shares  with  Singapore  the  distinction  of 
being  one  of  the  two  great  ports  of  call  in  the  Orient. 
Few  steamers  from  Europe,  Australia  or  America 
pass  it  by.  It  is  the  door  by  which  the  European 
tourist  enters  the  mysterious  Orient  and  it  is  the  gate- 
way through  which  the  traveler  who  has  seen  Japan, 
China,  Malaysia  and  India  passes  on  to  Egypt  and 
the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean. 

Colombo  is  the  greatest  market  for  pearls,  star- 
sapphires,  star-rubies,  cats'-eyes,  moonstones,  tur- 
quoises and  other  gems;  but  one  must  be  a  good  judge 
of  stones  or  these  astute  dealers  will  sell  you  cut-glass 
and  other  imitations.  The  shops  are  very  small  and 
most  of  the  dealers  haunt  the  sidewalks  or  the  lobbies 
of  the  hotels.  They  waylay  women  and  many  refusals 
have  no  influence  on  them;  they  come  back  with  the 
same  beaming  smile  and  the  same  engaging  gestures. 

The  sea  voyage  from  Colombo  to  Port  Said  is 
one  of  the  longest  in  the  Orient.  It  consumes  twelve 
days,  and  there  is  scarcely  anything  to  relieve  the 
monotony  of  sailing  every  day  over  oily  seas  be- 
neath a  relentless  sun.  The  weather  is  too  warm  for 
any  ship  games.  Mental  work  in  this  climate  is  a 
great  effort  and  it  is  difficult  to  keep  one's  mind  on 
any  reading  except  light  fidlion.  Everyone  takes 
a  siesta  after  lunch;  the  only  event  of  the  day  is  din- 
ner at  seven  o'clock,  for  which  nearly  all  dress.  Many 
of  the  men  compromise  with  the  climate  by  wearing 
black  dress  trousers  and  white  waistcoat,  with  a  curi- 
ous white  cotton  coat,  cut  like  a  vest,  with  large  la- 
pels. This  is  the  corredl  tropical  dress  suit,  which 
may  be  seen  from  Yokohama  to  Cairo.  The  only  land 
seen  in  this  long  voyage  from  Colombo  to  Aden  is 

[4] 


Aden  at  Gateway  of  the  Red  Sea 
the  island  of  Socotra,  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
from  the   African   coast.    It  is  seventy-one   miles 
long  by  twenty-two  miles  wide.    England  owns  the 
island,  which  might  prove  valuable  as  anaval  station. 

A  half-day's  steaming  from  Socotra  brings  the 
Arabian  coast  into  view.  At  early  morning  the 
steamer  rounds  a  rocky  point  and  anchors  off 
Aden,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Red  Sea.  Aden  shares 
with  Yuma  the  unenviable  reputation  of  being  the 
hottest  place  in  the  world.  The  promontory  of 
Aden  is  five  miles  long  by  three  broad  and  its  ex- 
tremity bristles  with  great  guns.  So  strongly  has 
England  fortified  this  natural  coign  of  vantage,  that 
nothing  can  enter  or  leave  the  Red  Sea  without  her 
permission. 

The  Rock  of  Aden,  the  seat  of  the  main  fortifi- 
cations is  seventeen  hundred  feet  high.  Back  of  it 
is  a  crescent-shaped  bay  lined  with  stores,  hotels 
and  consulates.  The  most  conspicuous  building 
along  shore  is  the  Army  and  Navy  Club,  where 
they  serve  a  kind  of  gin  sour,  locally  known  as  the 
Perseus  cocktail.  It  is  a  compound  of  egg,  gin,  ver- 
mouth and  other  liqueurs  and  it  is  remarkably  pleas- 
ant to  the  palate.  You  look  in  vain  for  the  native 
city  of  Aden,  which  the  books  say  has  forty-four 
thousand  people;  but  this  town  lies  about  three 
miles  from  the  Rock  in  the  crater  of  an  extind: 
volcano. 

All  round  the  forlorn,  foreign  settlement  of  Aden 
are  bare,  volcanic,  rocky  hills  which  refled:  the  sun 
with  blinding  glare.  Not  a  green  thing  can  be 
seen  in  these  hills;  the  rock  looks  like  slag  from  a 
furnace  which  has  not  yet  cooled  from  fire. 

A  singular  medley  of  races  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
native  city  of  Aden  —  Arabs,  Turks,  Somalis  and 
Swahilisfrom  Africa;  Egyptians,  Parsees  and  coolies 

[s] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
from  India,  and  a  sprinkling  of  a  score  of  other 
Oriental  peoples.  Certainly  this  was  the  real  East, 
for  here  was  a  constant  procession  of  donkeys,  camel 
carts,  bearing  goods  to  and  from  the  mysterious 
desert  beyond.  The  camel  is  the  favorite  beast  of 
burden,  although  the  donkey  is  usedfor  short  jour- 
neys. One  native  passed,  dressed  in  khaki  and 
mounted  on  a  fleet  camel,  which  was  moving  at  a 
swinging  trot  and  easily  covering  ten  miles  an  hour. 
Occasionally  the  drivers  of  the  two-wheeled  carts 
were  able  to  goad  their  camels  into  a  shambHng  trot. 

The  native  city  stretched  away  for  several  miles, 
the  houses  all  one-story  structures  of  stone  or  sun- 
dried  brick,  and  all  a  glaring  white.  Much  of  the 
domestic  life  seemed  to  be  carried  on  on  the  flat 
roofs,  which  are  surrounded  by  a  shallow  railing  of 
stone.  The  small  houses  have  clay  floors,  no  win- 
dows and  no  chimneys.  The  smoke  pours  out  the 
open  doors.  The  people  are  as  dirty  as  the  low- 
caste  Hindoos,  but  there  were  no  signs  of  the  grind- 
ing poverty  of  many  parts  of  India.  Only  the  low- 
class  working  women  showed  their  faces;  those  of 
the  better  class  covered  the  face  except  the  eyes, 
while  the  carriages  in  which  they  rode  were  com- 
pletely shrouded  with  canopies. 

The  Arab  differs  essentially  from  the  Hindoo; 
he  walks  with  a  more  independent  stride;  he  has 
the  quick,  nervous  movements  of  the  Malay.  Along 
the  shore  on  the  way  to  the  native  city  we  passed  a 
large  ship-yard,  with  a  half-dozen  dahabiyehs  on 
the  stocks.  A  score  of  natives  were  seated  on  the 
sand,  sewing  one  of  the  big  canvas  lateen  sails  of 
these  native  boats.  They  sewed  in  time  to  a  monot- 
onous chant  in  which  all  joined.  One  enterprising 
youngster  left  the  working  group  and  ran  after  our 
carriage, shouting:  "Salaam, Sahibs!  Bakshish!  Bak- 

[6] 


Aden  at  Gateway  of  the  Red  Sea 

shish!"  at  the  same  time  rubbing  his  stomach  to 
indicate  that  he  was  hungry.  'I'his  ship-yard  is 
the  property  of  the  richest  native  of  Aden,  a  Parsee 
from  Bombay,  who  came  here  thirty  years  ago  and 
began  life  as  a  clerk  in  a  small  store. 

The  trade  of  Aden  is  in  ostrich  feathers,  coffee, 
dates  and  salt.  Across  the  gulf  seven  miles  away,  is 
a  flourishing  city,  Sheik  Othman,  and  near  it  may 
be  seen  huge  piles  of  glistening  salt.  Here  are  ar- 
ranged a  series  of  salt  pans,  cut  out  of  solid  rock. 
The  sea  water  is  pumped  into  these  pans  and  then 
evaporated  by  the  powerful  sun.  The  country  back 
of  Sheik  Othman  is  said  to  be  very  fertile  and  to 
produce  large  crops  of  maize,  sorghum,  dates,  cotton 
and  other  products.  This  country  is  not  safe  for 
the  European  traveler,  as  any  party  is  sure  to  be 
robbed  unless  it  has  the  prote6lion  of  a  native  chief. 
The  British  captured  Aden  from  the  Arabs  in  i  839, 
but  it  was  thirty  years  later  before  they  secured  im- 
munity from  attacks  by  the  desert  tribe  known  as 
Fadhli.  This  peace  they  did  not  gain  by  force  of 
arms,  but  by  payment  of  money  to  the  influential 
sheiks  who  control  the  savage  tribesmen. 

England  keeps  a  strong  garrison  at  Aden,  but 
the  stay  of  Tommy  Atkins  is  usually  limited  to 
two  years.  Evervthing  is  done  to  secure  the  com- 
fort of  the  troops  and  officials  who  are  billeted  in 
this  desolate  corner  of  Arabia.  The  houses  are 
massivelv  built,  with  double  roofs  and  wide  verandas. 
One  of  the  best  sites  is  occupied  by  the  quarters  of 
the  cable  and  telegraph  staff.  These  men  have  a 
fine  messroom,  with  a  spacious  piazza  that  overlooks 
the  gulf.  They  are  on  duty  for  shifts  of  four  hours, 
but  it  is  found  necessary  to  change  them  often  be- 
cause of  the  debilitating  effed  of  the  monotonous 
life.    The   climate   is   dry   and   hot,  a   much   better 

[7] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

climate  than  that  of  Bombay  or  Colombo;  but  the 
uneventful  life  is  difficult  to  endure  philosophically. 
Aden  is  visited  by  about  sixteen  hundred  and  fifty 
steamers  yearly,  but  their  stay  is  so  short  that  in 
many  cases  passengers  cannot  venture  on  shore. 
The  sea  trade  of  the  port  amounts  to  $1,280,000  a 
year.  The  chief  traffic  with  tourists  is  in  ostrich 
feathers,  which  are  sold  as  plumes  or  made  up  in 
fans.  A  good  plume  which  costs  twenty  dollars  in 
any  American  city,  may  be  purchased  here  for  five 
dollars,  and  fair  plumes  may  be  secured  for  two 
dollars.  Good  bargains  may  be  made  when  the 
steamer  is  about  to  sail,  for  the  Arabs  who  come 
aboard  seem  averse  to  taking  ashore  any  goods. 


[8] 


Steaming 

Through  the  Suez 

Canal 


THE  passage  through  the  Suez  Canal,  which 
many  travelers  find  tedious  because  of  the 
intense  heat,  proved  entertaining  for  the 
passengers  on  the  North  German  Lloyd  steamer. 
Princess  Alice.  The  warmth  of  the  sun  was  tem- 
pered by  a  cool  breeze,  and  the  vessel's  slow  progress 
was  not  resented  as  it  would  have  been  had  the  sun 
blazed  down  on  the  glittering  sands.  The  approach 
to  the  canal  is  not  impressive.  The  old  Arabian 
town  of  Suez,  at  the  entrance  of  the  canal,  was  con- 
verted into  a  busy  city  of  nearly  twenty  thousand 
people  in  a  few  years,  but  with  the  completion  of 
the  big  ditch  the  importance  of  the  place  declined. 
It  has  fine  docks,  but  its  trade  is  now  inconsiderable. 
Seen  from  the  sea,  it  is  picturesque,  but  only  with  a 
glass  can  one  make  out  the  entrance  of  the  canal. 
The  remarkable  spectacle  may  be  seen  of  steamers, 
apparently  a  half-mile  inland,  moving  slowly  through 
great  stretches  of  shining  sand.  These  are  vessels 
which  are  entering  or  leaving  the  canal.  Soon  your 
own  steamer  is  abreast  of  the  entrance.  Then  the 
speed  is  suddenly  reduced  to  about  six  miles  an 
hour  and  the  big  vessel  enters  the  canal.  Even  at 
this  slow  speed  the  wash  of  the  steamer  carries  dirt 
from  the  Arabian  side  into  the  canal;  so  if  run  at 
full  speed  a  single  large  steamer  would  cause  dam- 
age which  it  would  take  many  days  to  repair, 

[9] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

The  first  thing  that  impresses  the  visitor  is  that 
though  the  canal  has  been  opened  for  over  forty 
years,  it  is  still  uncompleted.  The  Egyptian  side  of 
the  canal  is  well  lined  with  stone  for  many  miles, 
but  the  Arabian  side  is  not  finished  in  this  way. 
For  a  few  miles  the  shore  is  proteded  by  a  neat 
stone  wall;  then  the  mere  bank  is  seen,  with  de- 
vices for  preventing  the  mud  and  sand  from  falling 
into  the  canal.  At  various  points,  hundreds  of  work- 
men are  engaged  on  the  Arabian  side  in  widening 
the  canal,  which  varies  in  width  from  two  hundred 
and  thirty  to  three  hundred  and  sixty  feet,  with  a 
uniform  width  at  the  bottom  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-eight  feet.  The  canal  throughout  is  now 
thirty-one  feet  deep,  which  allows  vessels  drawing 
twenty-eight  feet  to  go  through.  At  regular  inter- 
vals are  stations,  with  wide  places  for  the  passage  of 
large  steamers.  As  the  canal  is  ninety-nine  miles 
long  the  passage  occupies  from  fifteen  to  twenty-two 
hours.  It  is  a  singular  fadt  that  only  on  large  pas- 
senger steamers  can  one  see  anything  of  the  desert 
on  either  side  of  the  canal.  From  the  deck  of  a 
small  steamer  the  passenger  can  see  only  the  sides 
of  the  canal.  On  a  big  steamer,  on  the  other  hand, 
by  standing  midway  of  the  after  deck,  only  the  land 
on  each  side  can  be  seen;  the  vessel  seems  to  be 
plowing  her  slow  way  through  great  seas  of  white 
sand,  unrelieved  by  trees  or  rocks. 

At  Suez  is  a  bust  of  Ferdinand  de  Lesseps  and 
at  Port  Said  is  a  colossal  statue  of  the  man  who 
joined  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Red  Seas.  That 
is  about  all  which  this  typical  French  promoter  of 
his  time  has  saved  from  the  wreck  of  his  fortune 
and  his  reputation.  It  is  almost  like  a  fairy  tale  or 
a  story  from  the  Arabian  Nights,  this  romance  of 
the  young  French  diplomatic  agent  who  dreamed 


Steaming  Through  thk  Sukz  Canal 

for  years  of  the  uniting  of  these  two  great  seas  and 
who  was  finally  able  to  carry  out  his  projcdl  through 
the  enthusiasm  and  lavishness  of  the  Khedive,  Is- 
mail Pasha.  Criminal  extravagance  marked  the  cut- 
ting of  this  canal  and  this  waste  Ismail  had  to  pay 
for.  The  canal  cost  fifteen  million  dollars  more 
than  De  Lesseps'  estimates  and  this  deficit  Ismai' 
was  called  upon  to  make  up.  To  do  this,  he  was 
forced  to  sacrifice  his  own  fortune  and  to  mortgage 
the  revenues  of  Egypt  for  such  a  large  sum  that  the 
country  was  hopelessly  involved.  Ihe  result  was 
his  own  deposition  from  power  and  the  transfer  of 
the  control  of  Egypt  to  one  of  the  greatest  English 
administrators  of  his  age-Sir  Evelyn  Baring,  now 
the  Earl  of  Cromer.  In  this  wreck  that  followed 
the  prodigal  waste  of  Ismail  and  De  Lesseps,  the 
French  Government  was  also  involved,  for  Disraeli, 
by  a  shrewd  move  at  the  opportune  moment,  bought 
up  Ismail's  canal  shares  and  this  gave  to  England 
the  praftical  control  of  the  canal. 

The  digging  of  the  Suez  Canal  was  carried  on 
in  a  primitive  way  compared  with  the  work  that  has 
been  going  on  for  several  years  on  the  Panama 
Canal.  At  the  outset  twenty-five  thousand  Arab 
workmen  dug  up  the  soil  with  clumsy  tools  and 
carried  it  in  baskets  on  their  heads,  precisely  as  they 
do  to-day  in  Arabia  or  Egypt.  Some  labor-saving 
devices  were  introduced  before  the  completion  of 
the  work,  but  during  all  these  ten  years  of  construc- 
tion progress  was  slow.  With  the  tremendous  en- 
gines used  at  Panama,  the  Suez  Canal  could  have 
been  dug  in  three  or  four  years.  Even  to-day  native 
laborers  along  the  line  of  the  Suez  Canal  may  be 
seen  working  with  tools  that  have  been  handed 
down  for  generations.  Tramways  have  been  built 
and  cars  are  used  for  getting   rid   of  the  excavated 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
soil;  but  the  Arab  potters  along  in  the  hot  sun  and 
does  about  as  much  work  as  a  ten-year-old  Ameri- 
can boy.  He  rests  on  the  handle  of  his  heavy  shovel 
and  inspeds  each  steamer  that  passes.  He  shouts 
Arabic  at  the  intruder  and  if  an  inspector  is  not  in 
sight  he  will  run  along  the  edge  of  the  canal  and 
beg  for  anything  which  the  passengers  may  see  fit 
to  throw  to  him.  Several  of  these  Arabs  created 
much  diversion  by  fishing  from  the  canal  the  old 
pith  helmets,  oranges  and  other  articles  which  were 
thrown  to  them  from  the  ship.  One  fellow,  who 
wore  an  American  army  blouse  over  his  Arab  dress, 
retrieved  a  helmet  from  the  water,  put  it  on  and 
strutted  proudly  along  the  bank,  the  envy  of  all  his 
companions. 

All  day  the  big  German  steamer  moved  slowly 
through  the  canal.  The  passengers  lined  the  rails 
during  the  early  hours,  for  every  few  yards  brought 
surprises  in  the  way  of  novel  scenes  and  incidents. 
In  the  first  place,  it  was  plain  that  on  both  sides  of 
the  canal  the  country  was  a  literal  desert.  Califor- 
nians  who  know  the  Mojave  and  Colorado  deserts 
abounding  with  cadus,  mesquit  and  other  plant 
life,  must  revise  their  ideas  of  a  desert  when  looking 
out  upon  the  banks  of  this  canal.  Here,  stretching 
away  to  the  purple  mountains  in  the  dim  distance, 
are  vast  plains  of  white  sand,  with  only  an  occasional 
bit  of  green  to  relieve  the  deadly  monotony.  These 
green  patches  are  oases,  due  to  the  presence  of 
water.  The  largest  is  near  Port  Said  and  is  known 
as  the  Wells  of  Moses.  The  water  of  some  of  these 
wells  is  very  bitter,  but  the  moisture  has  converted 
a  strip  of  desert  sand  into  a  garden,  with  fields  of 
green  grass,  orchards  and  vineyards.  The  true  Ori- 
ental aspedl  is  given  to  this  oasis  by  groves  of  date 
palms,  whose  feathery  tops  wave  in  the  light  breeze. 

[12] 


fc    f^    ^  n    3--^   S    CO  a-  _  g 

33C—   n3  l^O- 

3   T.=rn   -ns'S   =.^   =-2 


Steaming  Through  the  Suez  Canal 

These  wells  are  ot  historical  interest  as  they  served 
as  a  resting  place  for  the  children  ot  Israel  and  the 
bitter  waters  Moses  made  sweet  by  the  use  ot  a 
desert  shrub. 

Across  the  wastes  of  sand  that  line  the  canal  on 
either  side  were  seen  at  intervals  small  parties  ot 
Bedouins  with  camels  and  tents.  Some  were  on  the 
march,  the  women  huddled  high  up  on  the  camels, 
while  the  men  walked,  urging  on  the  tired  animals. 
Others  were  camped  by  the  wayside,  the  black  tents 
showing  out  in  strong  relief  against  the  glittering 
sand;  the  camels  lying  down, and  small  flocks  of  goats 
or  sheep  browsing  around.  Here  for  the  first  time 
we  saw  the  typical  nomads  of  the  desert,  with  their 
tall,  gaunt  frames,  covered  with  dirty,  black  cloaks. 
The  Arab  wears  clothes  that  impede  his  work.  In- 
stead of  trousers  he  has  a  long,  loose  dress  of  white 
or  blue  cotton  that  interferes  with  every  movement 
of  his  body,  and  he  adds  to  this  a  long,  black  cloak, 
with  cloth  enough  in  it  to  make  several  American 
overcoats.  Even  the  laborers  on  the  canal  wear  blue 
cotton  dresses,  reaching  nearly  to  their  heels.  The 
Arabs,  men  and  women,  squat  in  the  sand,  and  if 
their  faces  and  dress  are  any  index,  they  seldom 
know  the  luxury  of  a  bath.  The  children  are  num- 
erous, but,  unlike  those  of  Japan  and  India,  they 
are  seldom  naked.  A  shirt  of  dirty  white  or  black 
reaching  to  the  knee  appears  to  be  the  favorite  gar- 
ment of  children  of  both  sexes  under  ten  years  of  age. 

The  camel  fits  into  this  desert  pidure  as  per- 
fe6l!y  as  his  Arab  driver.  The  ungainly  animal  is 
usually  of  a  dirty  yellow,  so  that  at  a  little  distance 
it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  him  from  the  desert 
sands.  He  moves  at  a  slow  walk  and  his  long  stride 
makes  this  a  very  uncomfortable  motion  for  his 
rider.    Occasionally   one    sees    the    genuine    riding 

[■?1 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

dromedary,  which  moves  at  a  rapid  trot  and  covers 
great  distances  with  small  fatigue  to  the  rider.    All 
along  the  Arabian  side  of  the  canal  camels  were  seen 
browsing  on  the  small  shrubs  that  grow  in  sheltered 
spots  or  cropping  the  grass  that  marks  an  occasional 
spring  or  small  water  course.    With  the  naked  eye 
these  camels  could  not  be  seen,  but  a  strong  glass 
brought  them  up  against  their  neutral-tinted  back- 
ground.   An   occasional   coyote   also   slunk    along, 
his   coat   the   very   tint   of  the   desert  sand.    The 
Bedouins,  however,  were  conspicuous  at  great  dis- 
tances because  of  their  wide-flowing,  black  garments 
and  their  white  turbans.    In  their  walk,  their  ges- 
tures and  their  faces,  they  presented  a  great  contrast 
to  the  low  caste  Hindoos  and  Mohammedans  of 
India.    The  Arab  has  a  fine,  stately  stride;  he  carries 
himself  like  a  soldier,  and   his  face  bears  out  the 
martial  illusion,  as  it  is  full  of  pride  and  intelligence. 
It  is  of  interest  to  American  readers,  in  view  of 
the   Panama  Canal,  to  know  that  the  Suez   Canal 
pays  large  dividends  on  the  stock.    The  tariff  is 
one  dollar  and  seventy  cents  per  ton  register  and 
two  dollars  for  every  passenger.    The  result  is  that 
a  big  steamer  like  the   Princess  Alice  paid  twelve 
thousand  five  hundred  dollars  in  tolls  for  one  pas- 
sage.   The  day  she  steamed  through  the  canal  was 
evidently  good  for  business  as  a  blue  funnel  line 
freight  steamer  preceded  us  and  three  other  steamers 
followed  closely  in  our  wake.    As  there  are  no  locks 
and  no  sharp  curves  navigation  goes  on  by  night  as 
well  as  by  day,  a  huge  searchlight  being  rigged  up 
in  the  bow,  which  throws  a  flood  of  light  across  the 
entire  canal.    It  was  a  fine  spedacle  to  see  this  cone 
of  brilliant  light  moving  in  advance  of  the  steamer— 
a  modern  pillar  of  fire  such  as  that  which  led  the 
Israelites  of  old. 

[H] 


Sailing  Among 

THE  Historic  Isles  of 

Greece 


FjAiLURE  to  change  my  ticket  forced  me  to  go 
to  Naples  before  proceeding  to  Athens.  The 
journey  from  Naples  to  Brindisi  was  saved 
from  monotony  by  the  fine  mountain  scenery,  but  it 
was  tedious  because  of  the  slowness  of  the  train  and 
the  prejudice  of  the  Italians  against  any  fresh  air  in 
the  coaches.  The  Italian  is  usually  of  robust  build; 
he  looks  the  pidure  of  health;  but  if  you  open  a  win- 
dow in  one  end  of  a  compartment  he  will  detect  a 
draft  at  once  and  will  appeal  to  the  guard  to  have 
the  fresh  air  cut  off.  The  feature  of  this  journey 
was  the  sight  of  a  half-dozen  towns  perched  high 
on  the  summits  of  almost  inaccessible  mountains. 
These  were  relics  of  the  days  before  the  discovery 
of  gun-powder,  when  such  strongholds  could  be  de- 
fended successfully  by  a  mere  handful  of  men  against 
an  army  of  invaders. 

Brindisi,  the  ancient  Brundusium  of  the  Romans 
and  the  southern  terminus  of  the  Appian  Way,  is 
one  of  the  least  interesting  of  Italian  cities.  In  our 
day  it  is  known  mainly  as  the  point  of  transit  from 
the  P.  and  O.  steamers  to  the  through  fast  trains 
which  whirl  the  traveler  from  India  across  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe  to  Calais  and  the  Channel  steamers. 

The  voyage  from  Brindisi  to  Patras  is  through 
historic  waters.  A  stop  was  made  at  Corfu,  a  fa- 
mous winter  resort  on  an  island  off  the  Albanian 


['5] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

coast.  The  houses  are  built  on  a  rocky  rampart 
which  encircles  a  spacious  bay;  two  ancient  Venetian 
fortresses  lend  a  touch  of  romance  to  the  city.  The 
streets  are  narrow  and  crooked  and  the  houses  lofty. 
Some  old  Venetian  palaces  remain  to  give  an  idea 
of  former  splendor,  but  the  town  shows  the  impress 
of  the  British  administrators,  who  dominated  the 
island  for  nearly  a  half  century.  They  built  a  broad 
esplanade  which  lines  the  massive  seawall  and  they 
made  good  roads  throughout  the  island. 

The  surrounding  country  is  famous  for  its  olive 
groves  and  a  drive  of  several  miles  takes  one  to  the 
villa  of  Achilleon,  built  for  the  late  Empress  Eliza- 
beth of  Austria,  but  now  the  property  of  the  Ger- 
man Kaiser.  The  road  to  this  villa  runs  through  a 
rich  farming  country  and  is  lined  with  groves  of 
ancient,  gnarled  olive  trees,  with  trunks  from  two  to 
three  feet  in  diameter.  The  men  of  Corfu  appear 
to  lead  leisurely  lives;  only  the  women  and  the  don- 
keys labor  early  and  late.  On  the  return  from 
market  the  man  rides  the  family  donkey,  while  his 
wife  trudges  behind  barefoot  over  the  muddy  roads. 

The  German  Emperor  showed  good  judgment 
in  selecting  Corfu  as  a  place  for  spending  the  spring 
months,  for  even  in  midwinter  the  air  is  mild,  the 
sea  calm  and  all  nature  seems  at  rest— a  genuine 
lotus-eating  land.  The  Emperor's  villa  boasts  some 
good  statuary,  including  a  heroic  figure  of  Achilles 
and  replicas  of  many  famous  Greek  and  Roman 
statues,  among  which  are  the  two  boxers  from  Her- 
culaneum.  From  a  terrace  in  front  of  the  statue  of 
Achilles,  one  has  a  noble  view  of  the  bay  of  Corfu 
and  the  Aegean  sea,  every  island  and  every  head- 
land being  historic  ground. 

The  villa  grounds  are  terraced  and  by  a  wind- 
ing pathway  one  may  descend  to  the  water's  edge 

[16] 


The  Historic  Isles  of  Greece 
through  groves  of  semi-tropical  trees  and  flowering 
plants  brought  from  the  tour  quarters  of  the  globe. 
Near  the  water  is  the  tomb  of  the  unfortunate  Em- 
press, surmounted  by  a  beautiful  marble  statue.  The 
villa,  which  crowns  the  highest  point  ot  the  grounds, 
boasts  some  good  statuary,  but  the  paintings,  and 
especially  the  mural  decorations,  are  so  atrociously 
bad  that  the  wonder  is  that  the  Emperor  can  endure 
them.  Probably  he  tolerates  them  because  they  are 
the  work  of  German  artists. 

Not  far  from  Corfu  is  the  island  where  Odysseus 
was  cast  ashore  and  had  some  pleasant  parley  with 
the  beautiful  Greek  maiden,  Nausicaa,  who  showed 
the  wanderer  her  skill  in  playing  ball. 

As  the  steamer  departs  Corfu  is  lit  up  by  the 
setting  sun,  its  piduresque  houses  glowing  in  the 
rosy  light.  Soon  we  are  in  the  Ionian  Sea.  All 
around  is  historic  ground.  On  the  Epirote  coast 
lies  Adium,  where  Antony  was  defeated  by  Odavian, 
while  on  the  other  side  is  the  bold  headland,  the 
Leucadian  Rock,  from  which  passionate  Sappho  cast 
herself  because  her  love  for  Phaon  was  not  returned. 
To  the  east  is  Ithaca,  the  home  of  the  much-traveled 
Ulysses,  and  farther  on  at  the  entrance  to  the  bay 
of  Patras,  Don  John  of  Austria  destroyed  the 
Turkish  fleet  at  the  famous  battle  of  Lepanto. 

Soon  we  neared  the  northwest  point  of  the 
Peloponnesus,  beyond  which  is  Missolonghi,  famous 
as  the  place  where  Lord  Byron  caught  the  fever 
and  died  in  1824,  just  as  he  had  thrown  himself 
with  all  the  ardor  of  his  nature  into  the  Greek  re- 
volt against  Turkish  rule.  It  is  curious  how  this 
most  creditable  episode  in  the  life  of  Byron  colors 
one's  view  of  this  scene.  The  personality  of  this 
erratic  man  of  genius  is  stronger  than  all  the  history 
which  forms  the  background  of  this  bit  of  old  Greece. 

[•7] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
We  see  from  his  letters  that  he  knew  he  was  fac- 
ing grave  danger  in  staying  at  fever-infested  Mis- 
solonghi,  but  he  wrote;  "It  is  proper  that  I  should 
remain  in  Greece;  and  it  were  better  to  die  doing 
something  than  nothing."  Byron's  last  letters,  as 
well  as  those  which  he  wrote  in  the  heyday  of  his 
fame,  are  remarkably  good  reading,  but  the  world 
ignores  them  now,  for  few  editions  of  his  poems  in- 
clude even  a  seledion  of  these  brilliant  and  witty 
epistles. 

Patras  is  simply  a  commonplace,  commercial  town, 
but  the  railroad  ride  from  Patras  to  Athens  is  one 
of  the  most  beautiful  and  varied  in  all  Europe.  The 
train  first  passes  through  miles  of  vineyard-care- 
fully  cultivated  plantations  of  the  small,  seedless 
grapes  whose  dried  produd  is  known  as  the  Zante 
currant.  Grape  vines  are  pruned  low  as  in  Cali- 
fornia, and  the  only  support  for  the  vine  is  a  short 
stake.  The  railroad  skirts  the  shore  of  the  Gulf  of 
Corinth,  which  is  as  blue  as  the  bay  of  Monterey. 
Across  the  water  are  piled  the  pink  and  violet 
mountains  that  remind  one,  in  contour  and  color, 
of  the  Coast  Range  of  California.  In  fad:,  every- 
where in  this  old,  historic  land  of  Greece  one  is  re- 
minded of  the  brand  new  California— the  same  rugged 
coast  line,  the  same  contour  of  the  hills,  the  same 
wonderful  shades  of  sea  and  sky  and  far-off  myste- 
rious mountains.  The  yellow  sand  of  little  beaches 
meets  the  exquisite  turquoise-colored  sea,  just  as  it 
does  at  Carmel,  and  here  one  may  look  down  on 
the  many  shades  of  violet  and  purple,  formed  by 
floating  seaweed,  precisely  as  one  may  from  the  old 
Spanish  mission  church  where  Father  Junipero 
Serra  lies  at  rest. 

Finally  the  train  nears  Corinth.  There,  on  a 
hillside,  is  the  place  where  St.  Paul  lived  for  eigh- 

[.8] 


The  Historic  Isles  of  Greece 
teen  months,  laboring  six  days  every  week  as  a  tent- 
maker.   Here  is  the  picture  given  of  him  in  the  Bible: 

And  he  reasoned  in  the  synagogue  and  persuaded  the 
Jews  and  the  Greeks. 

And  when  Silas  and  Timotheus  were  come  from 
Macedonia  Paul  was  pressed  in  the  spirit,  and  testified  to 
the  Jews  that  Jesus  was  Christ. 

And  when  they  opposed  themselves  and  blasphemed, 
he  shook  his  raiment,  and  said  unto  them:  Your  blood 
be  upon  your  own  heads;  1  am  clean;  henceforth  I  will 
go  unto  the  Gentiles. 

While  your  imagination  is  filled  with  this  pidture 
of  the  ablest  of  the  Apostles,  your  eye  is  offended 
by  the  crude,  ugly  work  of  the  Corinth  Canal,  lying 
two  hundred  feet  below  the  train.  This  canal  cuts 
the  Isthmus  of  Corinth  and  has  been  a  great  help 
to  commerce,  but  it  ruins  the  pi(5turesqueness  of  the 
coast.  Beyond  the  isthmus  the  train  runs  along  the 
Gulf  of  Aegina,  of  vivid,  wonderful  blue,  with  a  back- 
ground of  mountain  wall,  and  with  many  islands  to 
lend  beauty  to  the  view.  One  of  these  islands  is  the 
historic  Salamis,  where  the  three  thousand  Persian 
ships  of  Xerxes  were  scattered  and  sunk  by  three 
hundred  ships  filled  with  fighting  Greeks, just  as  in 
recent  years  the  great  navy  of  Russia  was  hammered 
and  destroyed  by  Admiral  Togo  and  his  fierce  Jap- 
anese sea-fighters. 

Soon  we  see  rising  straight  ahead  a  gleaming 
summit,  the  Acropolis  of  Athens,  the  fountain  head 
of  all  our  art,  the  mecca  of  the  pilgrimage  of  every 
lover  of  the  noblest  poetry  and  the  finest  sculpture 
the  world  has  ever  known. 


[■9] 


The  Acropolis 

AND  THE  Parthenon 

OF  Athens 


ON  all  sides  in  Athens  is  historic  ground,  for 
here  was  developed  not  only  the  finest  liter- 
ature, sculpture  and  architedlure  that  the 
world  has  yet  known,  but  here  also  a  small  but 
brave  people  defeated  great  armies  from  Persia  and 
celebrated  their  vidory  by  ereding  temples  and 
statues  that  even  in  their  ruins  still  make  a  power- 
ful appeal  to  all  lovers  of  the  beautiful.  What  led 
to  this  sudden  flowering  of  the  genius  of  a  people 
like  the  Greeks  no  one  may  say,  nor  has  the  world 
discovered  the  causes  of  the  rapid  deterioration  of 
this  nation.  The  few  remaining  relics  of  the  statues 
and  buildings  of  the  ancient  Greeks  thrill  one's 
heart,  so  perfedl  are  they  and  so  thoroughly  do  they 
satisfy  the  eye.  Simple  in  design,  unapproached  in 
perfedion  of  workmanship,  they  stand  to-day  as 
specimens  of  what  may  be  wrought  by  the  highest 
artistic  genius.  And  yet  with  all  our  scientific  dis- 
coveries and  our  superior  command  of  the  resources 
of  the  builder's  art,  we  are  unable  to  reproduce  the 
perfed:  lines  of  the  capitals  and  columns  of  the  Par- 
thenon or  to  equal  the  beauty  of  the  caryatides  of 
the  Erechtheum.  The  Acropolis  is  the  despair  of 
the  modern  sculptor  and  architeft,  for  they  recognize 
that  these  Greeks  of  the  days  of  Phidias  and  Prax- 
iteles had  a  mastery  of  the  resources  of  their  art 
which  no  modern  sculptor  or  builder  has  ever  gained. 


[ao] 


The  Acropolis  and  the  Parthenon 
Athens  impresses  the  strangerwith  the  clearness 
of  its  air,  the  beauty  of  its  encircling  snow-capped 
mountains,  and  the  piduresqueness  of  its  three  hills, 
Mount  Hymettus,  the  Lykobettos  and  the  Acrop- 
olis. We  arrived  after  dark  and  it  was  on  a  gloomy 
winter  morning  that  we  obtained  our  first  view  of 
the  city.  The  summit  of  Hymettus  was  hidden  by 
low-lying  rain  clouds;  the  snow-clad  peak  of  Par- 
nassus was  only  faintly  visible  through  a  veil  of 
mist  and  cloud;  but  the  striking  solitary  butte  of 
Lykobettos  stood  out  like  a  sentinel,  and  when  we 
had  walked  a  few  blocks  from  our  hotel  we  sud- 
denly came  upon  the  Acropolis,  looming  dark  and 
menacing  against  the  stormy  western  sky  and  the 
Aegean  Sea  beyond.  Richard  Philipp,  a  well-known 
architect  of  Milwaukee,  accompanied  me  from 
Naples  to  Athens,  and  with  his  expert  guidance  and 
his  explanations  of  the  fine  features  of  the  immortal 
Greek  structures  on  the  Acropolis,  my  visit  proved 
to  be  of  great  interest.  For  years  I  had  read  books 
about  Greek  art  and  studied  photographs  of  the 
Parthenon  and  the  other  famous  buildings  ereded 
in  the  golden  age  of  Greece.  But  the  adual  sight  of 
these  splendid  strudures,  even  in  their  melancholy 
ruin,  was  a  pleasure  worth  going  halfway  around 
the  world  to  enjoy. 

The  first  sight  of  the  Parthenon  is  something 
to  be  remembered  for  one's  natural  life.  Familiar 
as  photography  has  made  the  front  of  this  noblest 
structure  ever  reared  by  man,  the  temple  somehow 
strikes  you  as  more  massive,  more  beautiful,  than 
any  pidure.  It  realizes  your  expediations;  it  satis- 
fies the  eye  as  does  the  lovely  Taj  Mahal  of  Agra; 
but  it  far  surpasses  that  perfect  tomb  ereded  by  old 
Shah  Jahan  to  the  memory  of  his  beloved  Queen, 
because  in  the  Parthenon  we  have  the  majestv  and 

[2.) 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

the  sublimity  of  the  great  temple  added  to   the 
rarest  skill  in  architedure. 

Set  upon  a  natural  rocky  plateau,  five  hundred 
and  twelve  feet  above  the  level  of  Athens,  facing 
the  rising  sun  which  gilds  its  pale  yellow  front,  the 
Parthenon  is  an  impressive  spedlacle  from  whatever 
point  one  may  view  it.  I  saw  it  under  many  con- 
ditions, but  never  found  it  other  than  beautiful, 
majestic,  and  full  of  that  divine  calm  which  marked 
the  gods  of  Olympus.  It  is  best  seen  under  the 
brilliant  morning  sunshine,  which  makes  its  age- 
worn  marbles  glow  with  the  rich  amber  tint  of  Kar- 
nak  or  Luxor.  It  is  the  atmosphere  of  profound 
calm,  not  of  this  world,  which  most  deeply  impresses 
the  sympathetic  observer— something  of  the  same 
effe(5t  produced  by  the  Antigone  or  the  Medea 
when  seen  on  the  stage.  The  more  primitive  one's 
nature,  the  less  sophisticated  by  fashion  or  worldly 
custom,  the  greater  will  be  the  effedt  on  the  emo- 
tions of  this  finest  masterpiece  of  Greek  art. 
Words  are  poor  to  describe  what  one  feels  when 
lost  in  contemplation  of  this  splendid  temple  which 
represented  the  blending  of  the  Greek's  passionate 
love  of  country  with  his  equally  passionate  love  of 
beauty  and  measure  in  art.  To  see  it  now,  even  in 
its  melancholy  ruin,  is  to  feel  something  of  the  thrill 
which  moved  these  old  Greeks  when  they  beheld, 
after  long  absence,  this  visible  sign  of  the  greatness 
of  Athens.  To  be  a  Roman  citizen  in  the  days 
when  the  great  empire  of  the  Caesars  reached  from 
the  Tiber  to  the  farthest  confines  of  the  known 
world,  was  something  which  the  modern  man  can- 
not know;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  to  be  an  Athe- 
nian in  the  days  of  Pericles  and  Phidias  was  some- 
thing finer  and  more  satisfying.  Only  one  age  in 
the  modern  world  has  approached  this  flowering 

[22] 


The  Acropolis  and  the  Parthenon 
time  of  Greek  art  and  literature,  and  that  was   the 
age  of  Elizabeth,  which  gave  the  world  Shakespeare, 
Marlowe,  Ben  Jonson  and  Bacon. 

The  Parthenon  typifies  the  highest  mark  in  art 
and  letters  ever  reached  by  the  genius  of  man. 
Hence  this  sense  of  the  profound  calm  of  the  gods 
which  still  breathes  from  these  stones,  making  the 
blood  glow  and  the  eyes  fill  as  one  feels  again,  after 
all  these  eventful  years,  the  emotions  that  stirred 
these  great  artists  and  builders  in  the  splendid  noon 
of  Greek  history. 

Seen  from  a  little  distance  the  ravages  of  time 
and  vandalism  are  obscured;  then  it  seems  a  nearly 
perfect  building.  But,  when  seen  nearby,  the  terrible 
havoc  wrought  by  the  explosion  of  a  Venetian 
powder  magazine  in  the  seventeenth  century  is  sadly 
apparent.  As  you  approach  the  Acropolis  you 
realize  what  a  natural  fortress  this  was  before  the 
discovery  of  gunpowder.  The  rocky  walls  have 
been  cut  down  sheer  to  the  bottom.  On  the  south 
side  are  the  Greek  theater  of  Dionysius  and  the 
Roman  theater,  built  by  Herodes  Atticus  and  com- 
pleted by  Hadrian.  These  are  built  into  the  side  of 
the  hill,  so  that  the  audiences  sat  with  their  bucks 
to  the  Acropolis. 

The  Theater  of  Dionysius  is  noteworthy  as  the 
place  in  which  were  produced  for  the  first  time  the 
great  tragedies  of  Sophocles,  F.uripides  and  Aeschy- 
lus and  the  comedies  of  Aristophanes.  In  those 
days  a  special  stage  was  eredted  for  each  perform- 
ance, while  the  audience  sat  on  the  hillside.  The 
Romans  paved  the  orchestra  with  marble  and  made 
comfortable  seats.  The  Roman  theater  on  the  other 
side  had  an  imposing  front  of  three  stories,  built  of 
brown  limestone,  and  had  seating  capacity  for  five 
thousand.    These  seats  were  faced  with  marble. 

L^3] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
The  Acropolis  was  a  natural  fort,  which  could 
be  scaled  only  on  the  western  side,  where  the  main 
gateway  was  flanked  by  two  towers,  strongly  fortified. 
From  this  gate  marble  steps  led  to  the  Propylea 
or  main  gateway,  consisting  of  a  central  doorway 
and  two  wings,  all  built  of  the  finest  Pentelic  marble. 
The  Doric  columns  of  the  Propylea  are  very  mas- 
sive, but  they  are  relieved  by  slenderer  Ionic  columns 
twenty  feet  high.  The  doorway  was  of  black  marble 
and  back  of  it  may  still  be  seen  the  grooves  on 
which  the  huge  wooden  doors  swung.  On  a  bas- 
tion at  the  right  of  the  Propylea  is  a  small  but  very 
beautiful  Temple  of  Nike,  built  about  440  B.  C. 
It  was  adorned  with  a  sculptured  frieze  eighty -five 
feet  long  and  eighteen  inches  high. 

Passing  through  the  Propylea  the  eye  is  caught 
by  the  beautiful  and  graceful  Erechtheum  on  the 
left,  and  the  stately  and  majestic  Parthenon  on  the 
right.  In  the  old  Greek  days  the  center  of  this 
open  space  between  the  gateway  and  the  two  temples 
was  occupied  by  the  colossal  bronze  statue  of  Athena, 
modeled  by  Phidias  and  ereded  with  the  spoils 
taken  from  the  Persians  at  Marathon. 

The  Parthenon  was  built  on  the  south  side  of 
the  Acropolis  with  its  front  facing  the  east.  It  is 
familiar  in  its  outlines  to  every  American  school 
child,  but  no  amount  of  familiarity  with  pictures  or 
photographs  of  the  building  prepares  one  for  its 
tremendous  effedt  upon  the  beholder.  Here  is  a 
temple  designed  on  simple  lines,  but  so  massive  and 
yet  so  perfect  in  every  detail  that  it  has  the  same 
effect  on  the  eye  as  a  great  work  of  nature  like  EI 
Capitan  at  the  entrance  of  the  Yosemite  Valley. 
When  first  erected  it  was  of  pure  white  Pentelic 
marble,  but  the  action  of  the  elements  for  twenty- 
four  hundred  years  has  stained  many  of  the  columns 

[H] 


The  Acropolis  and  the  Parthenon 
to  a  rich  brown  shade  known  among  painters  as 
burnt  umber,  while  others  are  of  the  tint  of  honey 
or  amber.  This  great  temple  was  built  on  purely 
Greek  lines.  It  originally  included  ninety-eight 
Doric  columns,  forty-six  of  which  were  thirty-four 
feet  high  and  the  others  a  foot  less  in  height;  fifty 
life-size  pieces  of  sculpture  for  the  pediments  at 
each  end;  ninety-two  metopes  or  smaller  figures;  a 
frieze  five  hundred  and  twenty-four  feet  long  and  a 
colossal  statue  of  Athena  in  gold  and  ivory  forty- 
three  feet  high. 

This  temple  was  eredted  by  Pericles,  while  Phidias, 
finest  of  Greek  sculptors,  had  entire  charge  of  its 
ornamentation.  Great  as  Phidias  was  no  master- 
piece of  his  remains  to  the  world.  All  we  know  is 
that  he  designed  the  colossal  statue  of  Athena  and 
that  he  planned  the  frieze  and  the  metopes  and  the 
other  statues  that  made  the  Acropolis  the  pride  of 
every  Greek.  His  pupils  and  his  workmen  must 
have  shared  in  his  enthusiasm,  for  every  detail  of 
ornamentation  of  bases  or  capitals  shows  artistic 
work  which  the  Romans  never  equaled. 

It  is  a  great  help  in  appreciating  the  Parthenon 
to  have  as  a  companion  an  archited:  who  has  made 
a  technical  study  of  Greek  art,  for  he  is  able  to  point 
out  the  perfect  work  of  these  old  craftsmen.  The 
lines  of  the  Doric  bases  are  all  absolutely  true;  the 
decorative  work  is  simple  but  extremely  effedlive, 
and  the  devices  for  correcting  the  natural  vision  are 
so  ingenious  that  no  modern  artist  has  been  able  to 
equal  them.  The  Greeks  knew  that  the  lines  of  a 
column  must  not  be  absolutely  perpendicular  or 
the  column  will  look  as  though  it  leaned  outward; 
hence  they  made  all  their  columns  lean  inward,  so 
that  the  optical  illusion  is  maintained.  Yet  the 
amount  ot  this  divergence  and  the  arrangement  of 

[25] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

it  throughout  the  column  is  the  despair  of  the  mod- 
ern archited:.  Experts  have  also  discovered  that  the 
great  Doric  columns  of  the  Parthenon  were  put  in 
place  by  sedions  and  that  the  fluting  of  these  col- 
umns was  then  carved.  As  this  fluting  is  perfe6lly 
accurate  here  also  is  a  task  that  would  test  the  skill 
of  the  best  modern  workmen. 

In  the  museum  in  Athens  is  a  plaster  repro- 
duction of  what  the  best  authorities  regard  as  the 
groups  of  statuary  that  adorned  the  front  and  rear 
pediment  of  the  Parthenon.  This  space  or  tympa- 
num was  ninety-one  and  a  half  feet  long  by  ten  and 
a  half  feet  in  height  in  the  center,  and  the  back  be- 
ing painted  red,  this  brought  out  the  marble  figures 
in  the  strongest  relief.  The  front  was  devoted  to 
the  birth  of  Athena,  while  the  other  depided  the 
triumph  of  Athena  over  Poseidon,  the  god  of  ocean, 
in  their  battle  for  possession  of  Attica. 

The  finest  sculptures  of  the  Parthenon  were  the 
metopes  or  life-sized  figures,  most  of  which  were 
bought  in  1802  by  Lord  Elgin,  then  Minister  at 
Athens,  and  transported  to  the  British  Museum  in 
London,  where  they  now  form  its  most  valued  pos- 
session. The  frieze  of  the  Parthenon  contained  the 
finest  Greek  work  in  bas-relief.  In  the  Acropolis 
Museum  are  twenty-two  slabs  from  the  frieze  which 
depid  the  festal  procession  in  honor  of  Athena, 
which  was  held  every  four  years  in  Athens. 

Below  the  Parthenon,  to  the  left,  are  the  ruins 
of  the  Erechtheum,  a  smaller  temple  of  the  goddess 
Athena  Pallas  and  other  deities,  more  beautiful  but 
less  impressive  than  the  great  temple.  The  features 
of  this  temple  are  the  graceful  Ionic  columns,  the 
superb  northern  doorway,  and  the  colonnade  of  the 
Caryatides.  In  the  latter,  instead  of  columns,  six 
statues   of  maidens  support  the  roof.   These  fig- 

[26] 


The  Portico  of  the  Erechtheum  or  Temple  of  Pallas  Athena 

at  Athens,  Showing  the  Portico  Upheld  by  Carj-atides.    These 

Figures  of  Women  are  Among  the  Best  Remains  of  Greek 

Art  of  the  Age  of  Phidias.     The  Dark  One  is  of 

Plaster,  as  the  Original  is  in  the  Elgin 

Collection  in  the  British  Museum 


The  Acropolis  and  the  Parthenon 

ures  have  all  the  easy  grace  of  an  Oriental  woman 
carrying  a  water  jar  on  her  head,  while  at  the  same 
time  they  seem  to  be  instind  with  the  dignity  and 
force  of  Greek  goddesses.  Ifever  triumphantwomun- 
hood  was  wrought  in  marble,  here  it  is.  One  feels 
that  these  are  women,  "divinely  planned,"  with  al- 
most the  strength  of  men,  yet  with  that  mysterious 
appeal  of  sex  which  removes  them  from  the  austere 
heights  of  Pallas  Athena.  These  are  women  who 
have  no  ailments,  no  nerves;  ideal  companions  for 
men  who  love  the  strenuous  life. 

The  north  door  is  approached  through  six  col- 
umns that  are  beautifully  decorated.  This  little 
temple  gives  an  extraordinary  impression  of  grace 
and  lightness,  which  furnishes  a  striking  contrast  to 
the  strength  and  massiveness  of  the  Parthenon.  It 
seems  strange  that  with  all  this  wealth  of  art  work 
in  marble  the  Greeks  should  have  demanded  color 
in  the  decoration  of  the  Parthenon  and  its  statues; 
yet  we  have  in  the  remains  found  on  the  Acropolis 
and  in  the  records  of  ancient  writers  not  only  ample 
proof  that  the  temples  were  brilliantly  colored,  but 
that  even  the  statuary  was  painted. 

All  the  art  work  on  the  Acropolis  appears  to 
have  been  done  by  sculptors  and  minor  craftsmen 
who  were  thoroughly  in  love  with  their  task.  In 
our  own  day  in  the  Chicago  Fair  we  had  a  good  illus- 
tration of  the  effed  of  giving  able  artists  a  free  hand 
in  the  designing  and  decoration  of  the  exposition 
buildings.  Good  experts  pronounced  the  Agricul- 
tural building  at  Chicago,  designed  by  McKim,  the 
finest  strudure  of  modern  times.  Something  of  this 
same  spirit  of  generous  rivalry  must  have  existed 
among  the  pupils  and  the  workmen  of  Phidias  and 
the  architeds  of  the  Parthenon,  for  in  every  minute 
detail  this  Greek  temple  reveals  the  height  of  skill 

[27] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
in  design  and  carving.  That  all  this  work  was  ac- 
complished in  ten  years  shows  that  the  workmen  of 
the  time  of  Phidias  had  not  absorbed  the  modern 
trade  union  idea  that  the  mechanic  should  do  the 
least  amount  of  work  possible  in  an  eight-hour  day. 

It  would  have  come  down  to  modern  times 
practically  uninjured  had  it  not  been  for  the  vandal- 
ism of  the  Venetians,  who  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury used  the  building  for  storing  their  powder. 
During  a  Turkish  attack  on  the  Acropolis  a  shell 
was  dropped  into  this  powder  and  the  resulting  ex- 
plosion destroyed  much  of  the  Parthenon.  In  the 
work  of  restoration  good  sculptors  should  be  em- 
ployed, as  much  work  done  in  recent  years  offends 
the  eye,  so  inferior  is  it  to  the  old  Greek  carving. 

In  the  Acropolis  Museum  as  well  as  in  the 
National  Archaeological  Museum  in  Athens  one 
may  get  a  good  idea  of  the  perfedlion  of  the  work 
of  the  antique  sculptors.  The  drapery  of  the  female 
figures  from  the  Parthenon  clings  to  the  limbs  yet 
reveals  their  rounded  forms,  as  in  life.  Nothing 
more  strongly  marks  the  difference  between  Greek 
and  Roman  art  than  the  method  of  handling  the 
drapery  of  the  female  costume.  To  the  Greeks  it 
seemed  a  simple  task  to  reproduce  in  marble  the 
very  effedts  seen  in  everyday  life;  to  the  Romans 
this  work  was  beyond  their  power. 


[28] 


Remains  of 

Ancient  Art  in 

Athens 


THE  Acropolis  Museum  is  disappointing  be- 
cause so  many  of  the  exhibits  are  in  a  frag- 
mentary condition.  Legs  and  arms  and 
torsos  abound,  but  it  requires  much  imagination  to 
reconstrud:  the  perfedl  figures  from  these  remains. 
Perhaps  the  most  satisfactory  work  may  be  found 
in  bas-reHef,  for  here  the  vandaHsm  of  time  has  had 
less  opportunity  to  destroy  the  perfedt  lines  of  the 
original  figures.  Of  this  work  the  Parthenon  frieze 
is  the  most  interesting,  as  it  reveals  the  simplicity 
of  the  method  of  these  Greek  sculptors  and  the 
wonderful  effeds  that  they  secured.  Some  of  the 
figures  of  Nike  or  Victory  are  rarely  beautiful  in 
outline  and  expression,  especially  the  one  so  often 
reproduced,  the  Nike  loosening  her  sandal. 

In  the  National  Arch^ological  Museum  are 
scores  of  statues  and  other  work  gathered  from 
many  parts  of  Greece.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the 
Greek  government  has  adopted  the  parochial  plan 
of  permitting  all  the  remains  exhumed  to  stay  in 
the  places  where  they  are  discovered.  In  this  way 
small  and  remote  towns  each  possess  some  perfedl 
work  of  ancient  Greek  art  which  is  never  seen  ex- 
cept by  enthusiasts  who  can  afford  the  time  to  visit 
it.  If  these  statues  were  removed  to  Athens,  then 
the  great  body  of  tourists  would  be  able  to  enjov 
them.    Another  curious  rule  is  that  which  has  en- 

[^9] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

forced  labeling  of  all  exhibits  in  Greek  alone.  As  nine- 
tenths  of  the  visitors  are  foreigners  who  understand 
no  Greek,  the  absurdity  of  this  method  is  apparent. 
Below  the  Acropolis  is  the  Hill  of  Mars,  on 
which  St.  Paul  stood  when  he  preached  to  the 
Athenians  warning  them  that  they  were  too  super- 
stitious and  that  the  altar  to  the  Unknown  God 
should  have  been  erected  to  the  "Lord  of  heaven 
and  earth"  who  "dwelleth  not  in  temples  made 
with  hands."  Nearby  is  a  cave  in  the  hillside  which 
is  said  to  be  the  one  in  which  Socrates  was  confined 
before  he  was  made  to  drink  the  hemlock. 

One  of  the  notable  Roman  remains  in  Athens 
is  the  Arch  of  Hadrian,  that  divides  the  city  of 
Theseus  from  the  city  of  Hadrian.  It  is  of  two 
stories,  with  a  noble  sweep  of  arch  and  a  light  and 
graceful  upper  structure.  It  somehow  suggests  the 
mingled  strength  and  culture  of  this  old  Roman 
Emperor  who  left  enduring  traces  of  his  presence 
from  one  end  of  the  great  empire  to  the  other. 

Nearby  is  the  Byzantine  church  of  Kahnikarea, 
which  is  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  best  architecture. 
It  was  erected  in  the  ninth  century  on  foundations 
laid  in  the  fifth  century  after  Christ.  No  attempt 
has  been  made  to  modernize  this  church  and  the 
result  is  a  perfect  specimen  of  By  zantine  architecture. 
Athens  is  full  of  the  remains  of  Greek  art,  some 
of  it  fully  equal  to  that  found  on  the  Acropolis.  One 
is  the  monument  of  Lysikrates,  erected  by  a  winner 
in  the  Dionysian  games.  It  looks  like  a  small  round 
temple  and  its  main  feature  is  a  circle  of  six  Corin- 
thian half-columns,  supporting  a  richly  sculptured 
frieze  and  a  conical  roof  of  a  single  slab  of  marble. 
The  bronze  tripod  won  by  the  victor  once  sur- 
mounted the  roof.  Even  in  its  ruin  this  monument 
is  beautiful  in  its  symmetry  and  perfection  of  form. 

[30] 


Remains  of  Ancient  Art  in  Athens 

Of  all  the  old  Greek  buildings  in  Athens  the 
best  preserved  is  the  Theseion,  with  its  thirty-four 
Doric  columns,  eighteen  feet  high.  The  columns 
are  all  perfect,  and  the  building  gives  a  better  idea 
of  the  Greek  temple  than  the  Parthenon,  although 
the  artistic  work  on  it  is  much  inferior  to  that  of 
the  great  temple  on  the  Acropolis. 

All  around  the  base  of  the  Acropolis  sprawls 
the  old  city  of  Athens,  with  houses  that  remind  one 
of  the  adobe  huts  of  Cairo.  The  streets  are  narrow 
and  crooked  and  the  lives  of  the  Greeks  in  this 
quarter  is  as  squalid  as  that  of  the  Egyptians  on  the 
Nile.  The  new  Athens,  however,  with  its  wide 
avenues  and  its  fine,  modern  houses,  has  no  trace 
of  the  pidturesqueness  of  the  old  town,  but  it  is 
healthy  and  fairly  clean.  Very  modern  also  is  the 
huge  Stadion,  erected  on  the  site  of  the  Panthe- 
naean  games,  which  will  hold  fifty  thousand  spec- 
tators. 

Anyone  who  loves  Greek  art  and  Greek  poetry 
will  find  Athens  full  of  interest,  because  on  every 
side  are  places  that  recall  notable  events  in  Greek 
history  or  the  great  works  of  the  Greek  sculptors 
and  poets.  From  descriptions  of  world-famous  build- 
ings or  statues  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  the  real  work; 
what  one  gets  at  Athens  is  adual  contad  with  all 
that  is  best  in  Greek  art.  These  remains  are  badly 
mutilated,  but  enough  has  survived  to  prove  that 
the  Greeks  who  flourished  in  the  fourth  century 
before  Christ  were  unsurpassed  in  their  control  of 
the  resources  of  all  the  arts. 

Many  travelers  find  Athens  disappointing  be- 
cause it  has  so  few  remains  of  the  old  Greek  art  and 
because  the  noisv  modern  city  distrads  their  atten- 
tion from  the  city  of  Pericles  and  Phidias  and  Plato. 
But  if  one  only  keeps  in  mind  what  Athens  repre- 

[3'] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

sents  he  will  be  able  to  get  rich  returns  from  a  visit 
to  this  Hellenic  mother  of  all  art  and  literature. 
And  in  summing  up  what  Athens  and  the  Parthenon 
represent  no  one  has  ever  put  the  world's  debt  to 
this  Greek  shrine  in  more  eloquent  language  than 
Macaulay  in  this  concluding  passage  of  his  review 
of  Mitford's  History  of  Greece: 

All  the  triumphs  of  truth  and  genius  over  prejudice 
and  power,  in  every  country  and  in  every  age,  have  been 
the  triumph  of  Athens. 

Wherever  a  few^  great  minds  have  made  a  stand  against 
violence  and  fraud,  in  the  cause  of  liberty  and  reason,  there 
has  been  her  spirit  in  the  midst  of  them ;  inspiring,  encour- 
aging, consoling;  by  the  lonely  lamp  of  Erasmus;  by  the 
restless  bed  of  Pascal;  in  the  tribune  of  Mirabeau;  in  the 
cell  of  Galileo  ;  on  the  scaffold  of  Sidney. 

Wherever  literature  consoles  sorrow  or  assuages  pain, 
wherever  it  brings  gladness  to  eyes  which  fail  with  wake- 
fulness and  tears  and  ache  for  the  dark  house  and  the  long 
sleep  — there  is  exhibited,  in  its  noblest  form,  the  immortal 
influence  of  Athens. 


[32] 


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n-5" ^^  =* ^  "T 

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PLATE   X 

The  Graceful  Arch  Ereded  by  the  Roman  Emperor 

Hadrian  at  Athens.     Its  Statuary  is  Gone,  But  the  Arch  is  in  a 

Good  State  of  Preservation,  as  Hadrian  Built  Not  For 

an  Age,  But  For  all  Time 


2.  =r  <?  Z 


o-  — 


3     3 

rt 

2.  !"   5-  =•  O  *•  5-  "    5 
q  _    3    o    =r  n    o 

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„    o  x:  J5 


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^< 


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S    5, 

to     O 


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wv  :  *  !  f  M  f  :  r  '  (      r,'  ',-•■  ■■ 

m 


PLATE    XIII 

The  Choragic  Monument  of  Lysicrates,  Under  the  Shadow 

of  the  Acropolis,  Athens.     It  Has  Six  Columns,  But  These  Have 

Only  two  Rows  of  Leaves.     It  Originally  Bore  a  Prize 

Tripod  Won  by  Lysicrates  in  a  Dramatic  Contest 


«  -C  CO) 

>  .5   ^  ■-     ■  <^  o'-^   '3- 
~-o(/)U<g'-i2u     .1:1:. 
^2„ugc.ti'^  ^U   c    c 
^jC«<<j:S5  —  en  —  -1     .00 

<    S   c   2?  c  '5  -S'So:^  o   ^•- 
O'O-S   5-E.„   gO« 

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Ho" 


■-'  3  v; 


??-o 


I'LATE    XV 

A  Statuette  of  the  Great  Figure  of  Athena  by  Phidias, 

Which  Was  the  Most  Important  Statue  in  the  Parthenon. 

The  Work  on  This  Statuette  is  Not  Good,  But 

it  Gives  the  Best  Idea  of  the  Original 

Figure,  Which  Was  cf 

Gold  and  Ivory 


:„  '^  "  Ji  -  -^  ^    , 

w   "  ^  c  c  ^  «>  t-5  ^ 


ITALY, 

HOMK  OF  ART  AND 

MONUMENTS 


Naples  and 

Its  Treasures  of 

Art 


THE  voyage  from  Port  Said  to  Naples  was 
marked  only  by  the  passage  of  the  steamer 
through  the  Straits  of  Messina,  within  sight 
of  the  city  which  was  practically  destroyed  by  earth- 
quake in  January,  1909.  Mount  Etna  loomed  up 
on  the  left  hand,  looking  huge  and  threatening,  al- 
though fully  sixty  miles  away.  The  snow  that 
covered  the  summit  and  flanks  of  the  volcano  could 
be  seen  with  the  naked  eye.  The  sea  was  so  rough 
when  the  steamer  neared  Messina  that  the  captain 
kept  fully  a  mile  from  shore  so  that  only  through 
glasses  could  one  make  out  the  ruins  of  the  earth- 
quake. The  temporary  structures  contributed  by 
the  United  States  still  stand  and  reconstrudion  ap- 
pears to  have  been  very  slow,  as  no  new  permanent 
buildings  could  be  distinguished.  Clouds  of  dust 
swept  over  the  town  which  once  had  an  imposing 
sea-front,  as  the  ruined  columns  and  arches  attest. 

Just  beyond  Messina  we  passed  between  Scylla 
and  Charybdis,  but  with  modern  steamers  there 
seems  to  be  little  danger  of  a  vessel  going  upon  one 
of  these  rocks  while  trying  to  avoid  the  other. 
With  the  tremendous  current  that  runs  through  the 
straits  it  is  easy  to  see  how  an  ancient  sailing  vessel 
might  be  in  danger  of  going  on  these  rocks  when 
passing  between  Sicily  and  Italy.  Early  on  the  fol- 
lowing morning  we  entered   the   harbor  of  Naples 


[35] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

and  first  saw  the  city  under  dull,  leaden  clouds,  that 
threatened  rain. 

Naples  should  be  seen  in  the  spring,  when  its 
flowers  are  all  in  bloom,  its  trees  and  vines  in  leaf, 
and  when  the  sun  lingers  lovingly  on  its  rounded 
harbor  line,  and  warms  to  their  inmost  depths  its 
many  narrow  streets  that  look  like  canyons  be- 
tween solid  walls  of  masonry.  But  even  in  chill 
midwinter  this  old  capital  of  Southern  Italy  is  a 
lovely  spot,  with  Posilipo  on  one  end  of  the  great 
crescent  and  Sorrento  on  the  other;  with  blue  Capri 
in  the  distance,  almost  melting  into  the  deeper  blue 
of  the  Mediterranean,  and  with  Vesuvius,  its  sum- 
mit shadowed  by  fleecy  clouds  of  smoke,  dominat- 
ing sea  and  shore,  an  ever-present  menace  of  death 
and  destrudlion. 

With  a  harbor  far  inferior  to  that  of  San  Fran- 
cisco in  natural  beauty,  Naples  is  infinitely  more 
pidluresque  because  of  the  skill  shown  in  terracing 
the  hillsides  and  making  the  streets  encircle  the 
shore.  Naples  has  also  the  enormous  advantage  of 
an  architedure  that  lends  itself  to  the  bold  and 
rocky  hills  on  which  the  city  is  built. 

My  most  vivid  impression  of  Naples,  after  nine 
days'  stay,  was  that  of  a  city  of  stucco  and  stone. 
Most  of  the  buildings  are  of  yellow  stucco  that 
mellows  with  age;  the  streets  and  sidewalks  are  of 
a  hard,  dark  stone  that  wears  smooth  with  long  use. 
In  the  densely  populated  streets  huge  buildings  rise 
for  six  or  seven  stories  and  leaving  nothing  but  a 
narrow  slit  of  blue  sky  between  them;  massive  stone 
walls  brace  up  the  sides  of  the  hills,  and  many  nar- 
row stone  steps  lead  up  the  steep  hillside.  Looking 
down  upon  the  city  from  the  suppressed  Carthusian 
monastery  of  San  Martino,  these  streets  appear  like 
deep  clefts  in  solid  lines  of  masonry. 

[36] 


Naples  and  its  Treasures  of  Art 
No  American  city,  unless  it  be  New  York  below 
Houston  street,  is  so  closely  built  as  Naples.  These 
miles  of  brick  walls  must  store  up  summer  heat  and 
give  off  warmth  all  through  the  night;  but  in  mid- 
winter the  sun  seldom  peeps  into  them,  and  the  icy 
east  wind  goes  careering  through  as  though  it  would 
enjoy  tearing  down  the  long  lines  of  family  washing 
that  hang  from  nearly  every  window.  The  streets 
are  all  paved  with  large,  square  or  redlangular  blocks 
of  stone.  Many  ot  these  stones  have  sunk  an  inch 
or  two  below  the  level;  others  have  had  their  cor- 
ners cracked  and  the  rain  settling  in  these  places  has 
produced  a  depression.  The  result  is  that  driving 
over  these  streets  in  cabs  that  have  no  rubber  tires 
is  noisy  and  uncomfortable. 

Fully  half  the  street  noises  of  this  noisiest  of 
cities  is  made  up  of  the  roaring  of  wheels  over  the 
rough  stone  pavements  and  the  incessant  cracking 
of  whips  by  cab  drivers.  The  Naples  cab  usually 
has  a  single  horse  and  seats  for  two  people.  The 
cabman  drives  like  Jehu  and  takes  desperate  chances 
in  the  narrow  streets  of  running  over  foot  passengers, 
but  you  appreciate  his  point  of  view  when  you  learn 
that  the  man  who  is  run  down  in  Naples  is  fined  for 
obstruding  traffic,  since  the  Italian  law  holds  that 
the  streets  are  sacred  to  wheeled  vehicles.  The 
atrocity  of  this  law  may  be  appreciated  when  it  is 
said  that  few  sidewalks,  even  on  the  principal  streets 
of  Naples,  are  over  six  feet  wide  and  that  most  of 
the  pedestrians  are  forced  to  take  to  the  streets. 

This  is  the  case  even  on  the  Via  Roma,  the 
main  street  of  Naples,  which  runs  for  a  mile  and  a 
half  through  the  heart  of  the  city.  This  thorough- 
fare, which  was  opened  bv  the  Vicerov,  Don  Pedro 
de  Toledo,  in  1540,15  onlv  about  forty  feet  wide, 
with   the   usual    narrow   sidewalks.    As   all    Naples 

[37] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
drives  through  this  street  in  the  afternoon  and  as 
it  is  crowded  with  pedestrians,  the  congestion  of 
traffic  is  fearful.  To  add  to  the  woes  of  the  foot 
passenger,  fakers  and  pedlars  are  permitted  to  sell 
their  wares  on  the  edge  of  the  sidewalk.  The  Italian 
does  not  seem  to  suffer  from  confusion  and  delay 
that  would  drive  an  American  insane.  The  Italian 
gentleman  takes  to  the  street  with  perfed  good 
humor  when  he  can  find  no  place  on  the  sidewalk, 
and  he  shows  that  he  is  a  genuine  democrat  by  mix- 
ing with  dirty  and  poorly-dressed  workingmen  on 
terms  of  fraternity. 

On  both  sides  of  the  Via  Roma,  which  until 
forty  years  ago  was  known  as  the  Toledo,  extend 
narrow  streets  that  are  densely  crowded.  On  the 
left  as  one  ascends  the  Via  Roma  these  streets 
climb  the  hill  that  is  crowned  with  an  ancient  castle; 
on  the  other  side  they  lead  to  the  water-front. 
Even  Cairo  has  no  streets  narrower  than  these,  and 
this  narrowness  is  accentuated  by  the  great  height 
of  the  buildings. 

Many  of  these  alleys  that  climb  the  hill  are  a 
series  of  stone  steps,  very  pifturesque,  but  extremely 
difficult  to  reach.  Most  of  the  supplies  for  the  dwell- 
ers in  these  alleys  are  carried  up  by  hand  or  on  the 
heads  of  women.  Long  lines  of  bay  windows  reduce 
the  space  between  the  two  rows  of  tenements,  and 
the  alley  is  further  darkened  by  the  laundry  of 
scores  of  families  which  flutters  from  lines  stretched 
from  window  to  window  across  the  narrow  street. 

This  hanging  of  washing  on  the  outer  walls  is 
one  of  the  peculiar  customs  of  Naples,  which  does 
not  add  to  the  attraftiveness  of  the  water-front  or 
the  tenement  quarters.  What  increases  the  unsight- 
liness  of  this  exhibit  is  that  the  linen,  though  freshly 
washed,  is  not  clean.    Father's  shirt  and  mother's 

[38] 


Naples  and  its  Treasures  of  Art 

waist  flap  against  the  grimy  buildings,  but  no  one 
seems  to  care;  nor  does  there  seem  to  be  any  hesi- 
tation about  exposing  garments  that  are  frayed  and 
full  of  holes. 

Slatternly  women  lean  out  of  the  windows  of 
these  tall  buildings  and  exchange  gossip;  the  streets 
are  filled  with  children,  and  the  stairways  are  alive 
with  them.  Privacy  appears  to  be  something  un- 
known to  the  dwellers  in  these  mean  and  narrow 
streets.  Many  incidents  of  domestic  life,  which  in 
other  lands  are  always  hidden  behind  closed  doors, 
are  here  seen  in  the  open. 

The  army  and  the  Church  are  liberally  repre- 
sented in  the  crowds  that  throng  the  streets  of 
Naples  at  all  hours  except  the  early  morning.  The 
war  with  Tripoli  was  the  cause  during  my  visit  of 
the  appearance  in  Naples  of  large  bodies  of  troops 
that  embarked  here  for  service  in  Africa.  The 
soldiers  were  short,  stocky  fellows,  who  looked  fit 
physically,  but  their  low  stature  injured  their  appear- 
ance. They  seemed  to  be  drawn  largely  from  the 
farm,  but  what  they  lacked  in  elegance  and  in  skill 
in  marching  was  made  up  by  the  officers,  who  wore 
very  becoming  costumes  and  whose  mustaches, 
waxed  to  remarkable  points,  gave  them  a  martial  air. 

Priests  are  very  numerous  and  they  may  be  dis- 
tinguished at  a  distance  by  their  peculiar  flat  hats 
of  black  beaver  and  their  black  robes.  Many  are 
barefooted  save  for  rude  sandals.  These  priests 
serve  in  the  scores  of  churches  scattered  throughout 
the  city.  Some  of  these  churches  date  back  to  the 
thirteenth  and  fourteenth  centuries;  many  were  built 
in  the  fifteenth  century.  Upon  most  of  them  age 
has  certainly  set  its  mark,  and  not  even  elaborate 
gilding  and  ornamental  work  in  bronze  and  stone 
can  redeem  their  interiors  from  gloom. 

[39] 


Scenes  in 

Gay  and  Noisy 

Naples 


THE  chief  pleasure  ground  of  Naples  is  the 
Villa  Nazionale,  a  pretty  park,  bounded  by 
the  sea  on  one  side,  which  is  planted  to  many 
palms  and  ornamental  trees.  It  is  laid  out  in  artistic 
style  and  in  the  season  it  is  the  great  resort  of 
strangers  as  well  as  the  gathering  place  of  fashion- 
able Naples.  A  band  plays  three  times  a  week  in 
summer  evenings  and  the  avenue  next  to  the  bay  is 
then  crowded  with  carriages  and  the  walks  in  the 
park  thronged  with  pedestrians.  In  winter  it  is  a 
chilly,  wind-swept  place,  and  the  small  tables  and 
chairs  of  the  open-air  cafes  serve  to  bring  out  the 
sharpness  of  the  east  wind. 

The  park  contains  an  antique  granite  basin  from 
Paestum  and  a  number  of  modern  statues,  including 
one  of  Thalberg,  the  pianist,  who  died  in  Naples. 
There  are  also  small  temples  in  honor  of  Virgil  and 
Tasso.  Here  also  is  the  Naples  Aquarium,  regarded 
as  the  most  interesting  in  the  world  because  of  its 
great  variety  of  rare  marine  life.  Perhaps  the  most 
remarkable  tank  is  that  containing  a  half  dozen 
varieties  of  the  octopus.  These  repulsive  monsters 
frequently  advance  to  the  front  of  their  tank  and 
endeavor  to  get  nearer  to  the  visitor,  spreading  their 
formidable  tentacles  and  working  in  and  out  the 
peculiar  apparatus  for  blood-sucking.  Many  beauti- 
ful varieties  of  coral  and  medusae  from  the  Mediter- 


[40] 


Scenes  in  Gav  and  Noisy  Naples 
ranean  are  also  shown.    What  adds  greatly   to   the 
attradliveness  of  these  exhibits  is  the  artistic  arrange- 
ment of  the  tanks,  which  far  surpasses   that  in    the 
New  York  aquarium. 

Other  interesting  things  in  Naples  are  the  Gal- 
leria  Umberto  Primo,  a  great  arcade,  built  in  the 
form  of  a  cross  and  adorned  with  fine  statues.  The 
naves  are  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  high 
and  the  central  dome  is  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
five  feet  in  height.  This  gallery  is  brilliantly  lighted 
at  night  and  is  a  fashionable  gathering  place  of  men, 
although  one  sees  very  few  ladies.  Ladies  do  not 
seem  to  go  out  in  Naples  in  the  evening  except  to 
the  opera  and  the  theater.  It  does  not  seem  to  be 
the  custom  for  them  to  walk,  even  in  such  streets  of 
fine  shops  as  the  Via  Roma.  They  ride  invariably 
in  carriages  and  motors,  even  when  shopping,  a 
habit  probably  due  to  the  street  crowds  and  the 
difficulty  of  getting  about  with  any  comfort. 

The  shops  in  Naples  are  fine  and  there  is  a  be- 
wildering variety  of  ornaments  and  jewelry  in  coral 
and  lava  and  tortoise  shell.  These  three  are  the 
specialties  of  Naples,  but  scarcelv  inferior  is  the  imi- 
tation in  marble  and  bronze  of  the  famous  sculp- 
tures of  antiquity  found  in  Pompeii,  Herculaneum, 
Passtum,  Rome  and  other  places.  The  most  com- 
mon of  these  are  reprodudions  in  bronze,  marble 
or  lava  of  the  Dancing  Faun,  Narcissus,  Apollo 
playing  the  lyre,  the  Farnese  Hercules  and  the  Far- 
nese  Bull,  the  head  of  Homer  and  many  famous 
bas-reliefs.  These  replicas  of  some  of  the  best 
work  of  ancient  art  meet  one  at  every  turn.  They 
satisfy  the  eye,  but  they  suggest  the  query  why  the 
modern  Italian  sculptors,  with  the  originals  before 
their  eyes,  have  failed  to  equal  the  ancient  artists 
in  the  simplicity  and  beauty  of  their  work. 

[4>] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

Naples  takes  life  very  easily  as  the  American 
tourist  soon  learns  to  his  cost.  No  museum  opens 
before  ten  o'clock  and  the  hour  of  closing  in  winter 
is  four  o'clock  and  in  summer  three  o'clock.  It  is 
useless  to  go  out  in  the  street  to  do  any  shopping 
before  ten  o'clock,  as  no  salesmen  will  be  found  on 
duty,  and  the  same  rule  applies  to  most  of  the  steam- 
ship offices.  Leisurely  methods  prevail  in  regard 
to  the  answering  of  telegrams  of  inquiry  about 
steamship  berths  and  other  matters.  Twenty-four 
hours  must  be  allowed  for  a  reply  by  wire  which 
would  be  received  in  any  part  of  America  in  two  or 
three  hours. 

A  friend  of  mine  suffered  from  the  lax  methods 
in  many  steamship  offices.  He  saw  a  clerk  in  a 
German  steamship  office  who  assured  him  that  a 
good  steamer  would  leave  in  four  days  for  Athens. 
He  returned  a  day  before  the  date  of  sailing  only 
to  be  informed  by  another  clerk  that  the  steamer 
had  been  withdrawn  and  that  the  information  given 
him  was  based  on  an  obsolete  time  table.  His  Italian 
was  not  equal  to  the  expression  of  his  feelings. 

This  same  tourist  had  an  equally  unfortunate 
experience  at  the  National  Museum.  Being  an 
architect  he  wished  to  copy  the  detail  of  certain  bas- 
reliefs  from  Pompeii.  He  applied  for  permission, 
showing  a  general  letter  from  the  American  Secre- 
tary of  State.  Two  francs  and  a  half  were  demanded 
for  stamps,  but  the  permit  was  only  issued  after  he 
had  wasted  a  full  half-day  in  waiting.  Then  his 
anger  overcame  him  and  he  tore  up  the  permit  and 
threw  it  in  the  waste-basket,  a  proceeding  which 
aroused  much  excitement  among  the  director's  staff. 

The  Neapolitan  takes  his  early  breakfast  of 
coffee  and  rolls  about  nine  o'clock,  his  main  break- 
fast at  twelve-thirty  o'clock,  which  is  a  hearty  meal 

[42] 


Scenes  in  Gay  and  Noisy  Naples 
and  over  which  he  spends  an  hour  or  an  hour  and 
a  half,  while  his  dinner  is  never  served  before  seven- 
thirty  o'clock  in  the  evening.  This  makes  all  thea- 
ters and  operas  very  late,  as  the  curtain  does  not 
rise  until  nine  o'clock,  and  the  performance  seldom 
ends  until  after  midnight.  Cafes  and  restaurants 
abound,  where  it  is  the  custom  to  take  coffee  and 
light  refreshments  about  four  or  four-thirty  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon,  to  tide  over  the  long  interval 
between  breakfast  and  dinner.  No  one  except  the 
cabman  ever  seems  to  be  in  a  hurry  in  Naples.  The 
shopkeepers  are  extremely  polite  and  they  seem 
never  to  lose  their  tempers  when  ladies  insped:  their 
stock  but  do  not  purchase  anything. 

Naples,  in  its  own  way,  makes  a  strong  appeal 
to  the  American  tourist.  The  people  are  gay,  light- 
hearted,  polite  and  accommodating;  the  city  and  its 
surroundings  are  so  beautiful  that  they  are  a  con- 
stant delight  to  the  eye.  Even  the  annoyances  take 
on  an  amusing  aspedl  after  one  has  recovered  from 
his  first  irritation  over  the  persistence  of  cabmen 
and  street  venders.  It  Is  wearing  on  the  temper  to 
be  hailed  by  cabman  after  cabman  when  one  is  so 
eccentric  as  to  prefer  walking  on  a  cold  morning,  or 
to  have  the  same  vender  of  postal  cards  accost  you 
day  after  day  with  an  unwearied  persistence  worthy 
of  a  better  cause.  One  great  nuisance  the  city 
authorities  have  practically  suppressed:  this  is  the 
indiscriminate  begging  which  once  made  the  tourist's 
life  a  burden.  To-day  one  is  seldom  accosted  in 
Naples'  streets  by  mendicants,  which  is  a  great  relief 
after  bitter  experience  in  Cairo  and  Indian  cities. 


[43] 


Ancient 

Roman  Life  As  Seen 

IN  Pompeii 


THE  tourist  who  reaches  Naples  by  steamer 
or  by  rail  receives  many  reminders  that  he 
is  near  Pompeii  in  photographs  of  the  ruins 
and  of  the  chief  works  of  art  found  in  the  buried 
city.  His  eye  is  also  caught  on  every  hand  by 
reprodudiions  of  these  works  of  art  in  marble,  lava, 
bronze  and  plaster.  So  when  he  sets  out  for  Pompeii 
his  mind  is  already  stored  with  impressions.  A 
well-built  eledtric  railroad,  with  remarkably  poor 
cars,  carries  one  to  the  ancient  city  in  an  hour  and 
a  half.  The  road  passes  many  pretty  villages  along 
the  shore  of  the  bay  of  Naples,  and  it  runs  through 
an  exceedingly  fertile  country,  with  vineyards  and 
orange  groves  and  quaint  villas,  built  of  the  tufa, 
or  soft  stone  formed  by  the  hardening  of  the  vol- 
canic ashes  of  Vesuvius. 

At  Torre  del  Grecco  fields  of  lava  are  seen,  just 
as  they  poured  down  the  mountain  side  in  the  last 
big  eruption  in  1906.  In  this  eruption  the  lava 
threatened  a  little  church  and  town;  so  the  villagers 
dropped  on  their  knees,  the  priest  raised  the  cross, 
all  prayed  fervently,  and  the  lava  stream  was  stayed 
within  a  stone's  throw  of  the  sacred  edifice. 

The  vines  on  these  hillside  estates  are  trained  to 
grow  on  trees,  set  out  at  regular  intervals,  instead  of 
stakes.  The  drain  on  the  land  caused  by  these  trees 
is  apparently  ignored  because  of  the  extreme  rich- 

[44] 


Ancient  Roman  Life  in  Pompeii 

ness  of  the  soil,  the  ashes  from  Vesuvius  being  full 
of  potash  and  salts  that  furnish  plant  food.  The 
oranges  are  mainly  the  small  Mandarins,  very  sweet 
and  juicy. 

On  arrival  at  the  small  station  of  Pompeii,  one 
enters  a  gate,  and  at  once  comes  face  to  face  with 
the  ancient  Roman  road  at  the  Nola  gate,  paved 
with  many-sided  blocks  of  lava.  Here  is  a  bit  of 
antiquity  brought  down  to  us  trom  600  B.  C.  Here 
is  a  road,  showing  the  ruts  of  Roman  chariot  wheels, 
just  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  Cicero.  This  visible 
presence  of  the  old  Roman  world  of  which  you  have 
read  so  much  comes  upon  you  with  a  certain  shock. 
These  marks  worn  by  the  chariot  wheels  of  Romans 
who  lived  two  thousand,  five  hundred  years  ago  are 
the  most  impressive  things  in  this  resurrected  city 
of  the  ancient  world. 

As  you  walk  down  to  this  road  you  see  the 
enormous  mass  of  volcanic  ashes  and  dirt  which 
covered  Pompeii  down  to  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  when  excavations  were  first  begun  on  an 
extensive  scale.  It  is  over  twenty  feet  deep,  so  that 
the  excavation  of  the  city  represents  costly  work. 
As  you  walk  up  the  street  of  Nola  you  see  the 
ruined  walls  of  houses  on  either  hand,  and  you  sud- 
denly realize  that  here  at  last  is  a  secflion  of  Roman 
life,  before  the  time  of  Christ,  preserved  through  all 
these  years  by  the  ashes  of  Vesuvius. 

And  here  it  may  be  well  to  give  a  few  facfls  about 
Pompeii  which  will  serve  to  refresh  the  reader's 
memory.  The  city  was  mainly  a  pleasure  resort  of 
wealthy  Romans,  and  its  chief  structures,  aside  from 
the  public  buildings,  theaters  and  temples,  were  the 
homes  of  rich  men,  elaborately  decorated  and  orna- 
mented with  many  fine  specimens  of  Greek  art. 
Certain  architedural  remains  prove  that  the  city  was 

[45] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

in  existence  in  600  B.  C,  althougli  most  of  the 
buildings  that  have  come  down  to  us  unchanged 
were  construded  after  63  A.  D.,  when  Pompeii  was 
pradiically  destroyed  by  a  severe  earthquake.  Only 
sixteen  years  after  this  rebuilding  came  the  final 
catastrophe,  which  buried  the  city  for  over  seventeen 
centuries. 

The  city  wall  was  a  little  over  a  half  mile  long, 
with  eight  gates,  and  the  town  was  in  the  form  of 
an  ellipse.  Four  wide  streets  traverse  the  city  in 
one  direction  and  two  bisecit  it  in  the  other  direc- 
tion. These  main  avenues  are  only  about  twenty- 
four  feet  wide,  including  narrow  sidewalks,  while  the 
smaller  streets  are  merely  fourteen-foot  alleys,  with- 
out any  sidewalks.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  hot  ashes  burned  away  all  the  woodwork  of  the 
houses  and  that  the  weight  of  the  wet  volcanic  rub- 
bish crushed  in  the  roofs.  Thus  the  remains  are 
simply  of  onestory,  with  broken  pillars  andcolumns. 

Only  one  house  was  preserved  with  some  com- 
pleteness, but  this  served  to  give  the  world  an  ac- 
curate idea  of  the  arrangement  and  decoration  of  a 
Roman  home  of  the  best  class.  Pompeii  was  founded 
by  the  Oscans;  it  absorbed  Greek  culture  and  re- 
mained under  Greek  influences  until  290  B.  C, 
when  it  fell  under  control  of  the  Romans.  Before 
the  Christian  era  Pompeii  had  become  a  genuine 
Roman  city. 

Pliny,  the  younger,  left  the  world  the  best  ac- 
count of  the  destruftion  of  Pompeii,  in  which  his 
uncle,  the  naturalist,  lost  his  life.  Read  it  and  you 
will  get  a  vivid  idea  of  the  terror  and  confusion 
which  prevailed  when  day  was  turned  into  night, 
and  a  continuous  shower  of  pumice  stones  and  ashes 
fell  for  hours.  Most  of  the  inhabitants  had  ample 
time  to  escape,  but  of  the  two  thousand  who  lost 

[46] 


Ancient  Roman  Life  in  Pompeii 

their  lives  the  greater  part  probably  tarried  to  try 
to  save  their  property. 

For  over  seventeen  centuries  this  ancient  city 
remained  lost  to  the  world,  in  1748  some  bronze 
statues  found  by  a  peasant  stimulated  Charles  III 
to  begin  the  work  of  excavation,  which  was  con- 
tinued without  any  regular  plan  until  i860,  when 
Professor  Fiorelli  entered  upon  systematic  digging 
that  has  achieved  great  results.  Many  fine  statues 
and  frescoes  were  removed  to  the  museum  at  Naples, 
but  lately  the  sensible  plan  has  been  adopted  of  pre- 
serving any  objedis  in  the  house  in  which  they  are 
found.  It  was  Fiorelli  also  who  devised  the  ingeni- 
ous scheme  of  preserving  in  plaster  the  forms  of 
many  victims  of  the  earthquake.  The  wet  ashes 
formed  a  mold  about  each  figure,  and  Fiorelli  poured 
liquid  plaster  into  these  natural  casts  and  in  this 
way  a6lually  preserved  the  figures  in  the  agonies  of 
death.  In  the  small  museum  in  Pompeii  may  be 
seen  figures  of  men  in  various  attitudes  of  death  by 
strangulation;  a  girl  lying  on  her  face  and  two 
women,tryingtoshield  their  mouths  from  the  deadly 
fumes.  An  extraordinary  figure  is  that  of  a  dog  bent 
double  in  his  death  agony. 

In  this  museum  are  also  preserved  bread  just 
from  the  oven,  grains,  meats  and  other  food,  besides 
many  utensils  and  implements  in  common  use. 
These  plaster  figures  of  poor  viftims  caught  in  their 
death  struggles  give  one  a  more  vivid  impression 
of  the  horrors  of  the  great  disaster  that  overwhelmed 
this  pleasure-loving  city  than  even  Bulwer  Lytton's 
graphic  pidures  in  T/je  Last  Days  of  Pompeii. 

As  one  enters  Pompeii  by  the  street  of  Nola  he 
is  first  struck  by  the  stepping  stones  placed  in  the 
middle  of  the  street  so  that  people  might  cross  in 
rainy   weather   without  wetting   their   feet.    These 

[47] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

steps  were  so  arranged  that  chariot  wheels  could  pass 
between  them,  but  the  horses  were  forced  to  leap 
over  the  stones.  It  is  between  and  near  these  step- 
ping stones  that  the  deepest  ruts  are  worn  by  the 
heavy  wheels  of  the  chariots.  In  many  streets  near 
the  corners  are  stone  drinking  fountains,  the  water 
being  brought  up  in  lead  pipes  by  the  sidewalk  and 
then  allowed  to  pour  through  a  spout  into  a  square 
stone  basin.  On  each  side  of  the  spout  the  hard 
stone  is  hollowed  by  the  hands  of  thousands  who 
bent  over  the  fountain  to  drink. 

This  street  by  which  we  entered  was  a  street  of 
shops,  although  the  Romans  used  no  signs  to  indi- 
cate their  business.  Several  of  these  were  bakers* 
and  cook  shops;  others  were  stores  for  the  sale  of 
wine,  as  large  earthen  jars  are  set  into  marble  count- 
ers. One  of  the  largest  was  a  laundry,  with  tubs  of 
stone  and  a  big  furnace  for  heating  water. 

It  would  be  tedious  to  describe  in  detail  even  a 
few  of  the  houses  that  have  been  preserved  in  Pom- 
peii. One  typical  residence,  the  house  of  the  Vettii, 
will  suffice  for  all.  This  house,  one  of  the  largest 
and  finest  in  the  city,  was  built  by  two  brothers, 
who  were  once  slaves,  but  who  became  rich  and 
bought  their  freedom.  The  house  is  built  in  the 
regular  Roman  style,  with  a  narrow  passage  leading 
to  a  vestibule,  and  this  in  turn  opening  into  a  large 
open  court  or  atrium,  with  a  reservoir  for  rain  water 
in  the  center.  On  each  side  were  small  bedrooms 
for  guests.  Back  of  the  atrium  was  a  room  where 
the  master  of  the  house  transacted  his  business. 
The  remainder  of  the  house  was  sacred  to  the  fam- 
ily. In  the  center  was  a  large  open  court  or  garden, 
encircled  by  columns,  called  the  peristylium,  and 
opening  off  this  were  the  dining-room,  drawing-room, 
the  room  of  the  mistress  of  the  house,  the  kitchen 

[48] 


Ancient  Roman  Life  in  Pompeii 

and  the  wine  cellar.  Decoration  was  lavished  on  the 
walls  of  the  principal  rooms,  and  the  peristyliuni 
was  adorned  with  statuettes  in  bronze  or  marble. 
Very  little  marble  was  used  in  decoration  in  Pom- 
peii, the  columns  being  covered  with  stucco  and  the 
floors  made  of  mosaic. 

In  the  house  of  the  Vettii,  uncovered  about  six- 
teen years  ago,  is  seen  Pompeiian  mural  decoration 
at  its  best.  The  finest  work  is  in  the  atrium,  the 
dining-room  and  the  big  room  to  the  right  of  the 
peristyle.  The  decoration  in  all  these  rooms  is 
mythological,  the  small  figures  on  dadoes  and  friezes 
being  superior  in  drawing  and  coloring  to  the  large 
mural  paintings.  In  the  dining-room  several  large 
sedions  of  the  wall  have  been  preserved  and  these 
show  the  brilliant  Pompeiian  red,  apparently  as  clear 
and  as  brilliant  as  when  painted  over  two  thousand 
years  ago. 

Among  the  large  pictures  are  the  infant  Hercules 
strangling  the  serpents,  Pentheus  slain  by  the  Bac- 
chantes, the  Farnese  Bull  group,  Apollo  and  Daphne, 
and  Perseus  and  Andromeda.  Beautiful  as  is  this 
house  it  contains  several  paintings  which  show  the 
darker  side  of  Roman  life  and  charafter.  The  worst 
painting  in  Pompeii  is  in  the  vestibule,  now  covered. 
In  the  old  days  it  was  open  to  the  gaze  of  all,  as 
were  various  paintings  of  hermaphrodites  and  of 
erotic  subje6ls. 

The  Roman  phallic  worship  tindures  all  the  art 
in  Pompeii  and  brutalizes  it.  It  is  shown  in  the 
stone  phallus,  built  into  the  walls  of  many  buildings, 
to  keep  off  evil  spirits.  It  is  abundantly  shown  in 
the  secret  room  of  the  Naples  Museum,  which  con- 
tains an  amazing  colledion  of  paintings  and  statu- 
ettes. From  these  remains  the  conclusion  is  inevi- 
table that  the  ancient  Roman  was  not  immoral  but 

[49] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

unmoral.  Christianity  introduced  a  new  code  of 
morals  in  which  purity  of  thought  was  one  of  the 
leading  features.  Beside  it  the  Pagan  religions  are 
unspeakably  gross  and  vile.  It  was  not  strange  that 
the  Egyptian  worship  of  Isis  found  many  followers 
in  Pompeii  and  that  the  initiation  of  novices  degen- 
erated into  the  most  fantastic  orgies. 

Another  interesting  place  in  Pompeii  is  the 
House  of  the  Faun,  so  named  because  in  the  court 
was  found  the  famous  bronze  figure,  the  Dancing 
Faun,  one  of  the  most  perfedt  specimens  of  ancient 
Greek  art.  This  figure,  not  over  two  feet  high,  is 
alive  in  every  muscle.  The  Faun,  with  his  curly 
hair  and  beard,  is  dancing  with  a  pure  delight  in 
every  movement  of  his  body,  which  the  sculptor 
has  caught  with  surpassing  skill.  Other  beautiful 
bronzes  found  in  Pompeii  are  the  Youthful  Satyr 
with  a  wine  skin ;  Narcissus,  which  experts  now  say 
was  intended  for  a  youthful  Dionysius  listening  to 
soft  music,  and  Apollo  playing  a  lyre.  All  these 
statues  are  of  the  pure  Greek  school  and  they  have 
been  photographed  so  often  and  reproduced  in  vari- 
ous materials  that  every  American  school  child  is 
familiar  with  them. 

Very  interesting  even  to  one  who  makes  only  a 
single  visit  to  Pompeii  are  the  thermae  or  baths, 
with  the  remains  of  the  various  rooms  in  which  the 
sybaritic  Roman  of  the  last  days  of  Pompeii  spent 
so  many  hours.  The  Forum,  adorned  with  rows  of 
columns  and  with  many  fine  statues,  is  very  impres- 
sive, while  the  many  temples  show  the  strong  hold 
which  the  worship  of  the  gods  still  maintained  over 
the  popular  imagination.  A  Greek  theater,  with  an 
annex  for  the  accommodation  of  gladiators,  and  a 
great  amphitheater,  capable  of  seating  twenty  thou- 
sand spectators,  are  also  among  the  remains.    The 

[s°] 


Ancient  Roman  Life  in  Pompeii 

work  of  excavation  is  constantly  going  on  and  new 
treasures  of  Greek  art  may  be  discovered  any  day. 
Too  much  praise  cannot  be  given  to  the  Italian 
Government  for  the  care  which  it  has  taken  of  these 
remains  of  a  civilization  that  is  brought  very  near 
to  us  by  a  visit  to  Pompeii. 

On  the  return  from  Pompeii  one  should  visit 
the  National  Museum  in  Naples,  which  is  crowded 
with  works  of  art  and  mural  remains  from  the  buried 
city.  Days  may  be  spent  in  the  study  of  these  works, 
which  include  invaluable  specimens  of  the  archaic 
and  golden  ages  of  Roman  art,  Greek  portraits, 
ancient  frescoes  and  many  fine  specimens  of  bas- 
relief  from  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum.  Aside  from 
the  bronzes  already  mentioned,  some  notable  figures 
in  this  museum  are  the  Farnese  Hercules,  a  colossal 
marble  figure  found  in  the  baths  of  Caracalla  at 
Rome,  representing  the  hero  leaning  on  his  club  and 
holding  in  his  right  hand  the  golden  apples  of  the 
Hesperides;  and  the  Farnese  Bull,  a  group  also 
found  in  the  baths  of  Caracalla.  No  one  should 
miss  the  head  of  Homer,  dug  up  in  the  theater  of 
Herculaneum,  with  its  massive  forehead  and  its  re- 
fined nose  and  mouth,  nor  the  bust  of  Julius  Cassar, 
with  the  splendid  dome  of  the  head,  and  the  lean 
cheeks,  full  of  suffering.  Hours  may  also  be  spent 
in  profitable  study  of  the  beautiful  work  of  Greek 
and  Roman  artists  on  glass  and  precious  stones. 
Here  are  rooms  full  of  cameos  and  intaglios  that  can- 
not be  fully  appreciated  without  a  magnifying  glass; 
work  in  gold  and  silver  that  is  the  despair  of  the 
modern  jeweler;  vases  in  endless  variety,  many  of 
them  adorned  with  engravings. 


[5'] 


Romance  and 

Beauty  of  Roman 

Ruins 


ROME  makes  a  powerful  appeal  to  anyone  fond 
of  history  or  of  ancient  art.  More  than  any 
.other  city  in  Europe  it  seems  to  link  the 
modern  to  the  ancient  world.  Its  atmosphere  is 
charged  with  the  romance  of  a  history  that  will 
never  lose  its  charm.  Its  streets  and  its  galleries  are 
filled  with  statues  that  make  the  glory  of  Greece 
live  again  in  our  prosaic  days.  Behind  the  magnifi- 
cent modern  memorial  to  Vidor  Emmanuel  stands 
the  old  Roman  Forum,  with  the  arch  of  Septimus 
Severus  and  portions  of  the  temples  of  Vespasian 
and  of  Castor  and  Pollux.  Within  sight  is  the 
Colosseum,  where  the  Dacian  gladiator  was  "butch- 
ered to  make  a  Roman  holiday"  and  hundreds  of 
Christian  martyrs  were  thrown  to  the  lions. 

The  ruins  of  the  magnificent  palaces  of  the 
Caesars  on  the  Palantine  Hill  look  down  on  the  new 
palaces  of  trade  and  finance  that  face  the  square  of 
Vidor  Emmanuel  and  line  the  Corso.  From  what- 
ever point  one  views  the  city,  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's 
dominates  everything.  Fountains  abound,  from  the 
superb  fountain  of  Trevi,  the  finest  in  the  world,  to 
the  curious  four  fountains  that  give  the  name  to  the 
street  that  leads  into  the  Via  Quirinale,  on  which 
stands  the  Royal  Palace.  Every  square  has  an  his- 
toric monument,  an  Egyptian  obelisk  or  a  statue  to 
the  memory  of  a  famous  Roman.    Bred  among  such 

[52] 


Romance  and  Beauty  of  Roman  Ruins 

surroundings,  is  it  strange  thut  the  modern  Roman 
is  artistic  to  the  tips  of  his  fingers,  or  that  hundreds 
of  shops  are  devoted  to  the  carving  and  sale  ot 
copies  of  the  great  works  of  Greek  and  Roman 
sculptors? 

This  romantic  blending  ot  history  and  art  is  telt 
by  the  most  prosaic  tourist.  He  cannot  escape  it  it 
he  has  read  anything  of  Roman  history  or  of  the 
early  days  of  Christianity.  When  he  walks  over  the 
Via  Sacra  in  the  old  Roman  Forum,  he  is  treading 
on  the  identical  stones  which  Caesar  trod  on  that 
day  which  saw  the  sudden  end  of  his  crowded  lite. 

When  he  drives  out  on  the  Appian  Way  he 
sees  the  Arch  of  Drusus,  through  which  the  apostles, 
Peter  and  Paul  passed  on  their  way  to  martyrdom. 
Not  far  away  he  sees  the  tomb  of  the  two  Scipios, 
surnamed  Africanus,  because  they  were  leaders  in 
the  Punic  wars,  which  ended  in  beating  down  the 
power  of  Carthage  into  the  dust.  Out  on  the  Appian 
Way  he  may  see  the  ruins  of  the  Claudian  aqueduct, 
which  Ruskin  likened  to  a  funeral  procession  de- 
parting from  a  nation's  grave.  All  about  the  city 
are  columns,  pillars,  statues,  many  of  them  the  origi- 
nals which  have  come  down  from  the  days  of  the 
Cresars.  And  here  also  may  be  seen  the  Roman 
cypress,  fit  tree  to  stand  as  sentinel  over  the  ruins 
of  Imperial  Rome. 

With  so  much  beauty  in  Greek  sculpture,  with 
so  much  grandeur  in  Roman  temples  and  palaces, 
it  is  difficult  to  give  any  adequate  description  of 
this  old  city  by  the  Tiber.  We  know  that  the 
Romans  fell  far  short  of  the  Greeks  in  their  sculp- 
ture and  in  their  architecture;  but  we  know  that 
they  gave  to  the  world  law  and  government  in  such 
enduring  form  that  many  modern  nations  have 
taken  these  for  their  models.    We  also  know  that 

[53] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

the  Romans  preserved  for  us  all  that  was  best  in 
the  art  of  Greece.  Thus  the  Emperor  Hadrian, 
when  master  of  the  world,  gathered  at  his  villa  at 
Tivoli,  near  Rome,  five  thousand  of  the  best  works 
of  Greek  art.  Many  of  these  were  copies  of  origi- 
nals which  were  afterward  lost  or  destroyed  by  fire; 
others  were  wrought  by  the  greatest  artists  the  world 
has  known.  Could  this  villa  with  all  its  wealth  of 
art  have  been  preserved  for  us,  as  Pompeii  was  pre- 
served by  volcanic  ashes,  then  we  should  have  seen 
Imperial  Rome  as  it  was  in  its  proudest  days. 

To  the  newcomer,  modern  Rome,  the  Rome 
which  has  been  built  on  the  Pincian  Hill,  the  site 
of  the  spacious  gardens  of  the  historian  Sallust, 
seems  incongruous  and  out  of  place;  but  he  soon 
sees  that  this  new  Rome  has  no  vital  relation  to 
the  old  city.  Of  the  ancient  Roman  buildings  only 
one  has  come  down  in  regular  daily  use  through  all 
the  centuries.  This  is  the  Pantheon,  one  of  the 
most  impressive  relics  of  Imperial  Rome.  It  was 
built  by  Agrippa,  the  son-in-law  of  Augustus  Caesar, 
and  his  name  still  stands  carved  on  its  front;  but 
we  know  that  it  was  altered  by  Domitian,  and  that 
Hadrian  restored  it  after  much  damage  had  been 
done  by  lightning.  It  is  a  curious  fad:  that  the 
height  and  diameter  of  the  Pantheon  are  the  same- 
one  hundred  and  forty-two  and  a  half  feet.  All 
the  light  comes  from  an  aperture  in  the  dome, 
twenty-seven  feet  in  diameter.  Entering  the  gloomy 
building  on  a  rainy  morning  it  was  a  shock  to  find 
that  the  middle  of  the  floor  was  wet.  What  pre- 
served this  pagan  temple  from  spoliation  was  its 
use  as  a  Christian  Church.  Later  it  was  converted 
into  a  burial  place  for  the  illustrious  dead.  Here 
lie  the  remains  of  Raphael  and  here  also  repose 
King  Vidor  Emmanuel  and  King  Humbert. 

[54] 


Romance  and  Beauty  of  Roman  Ruins 

Next  to  the  Pantheon  naturally  comes  the 
Forum,  the  center  of  Imperial  Rome.  It  has  been 
partly  excavated  and  its  ruins  now  stand  just  back 
of  the  modern  buildings  that  crown  the  summit  of 
the  Capitoline  Hill.  Seen  in  photographs  the  re- 
mains of  temples  and  columns  have  a  huddled  look, 
but  in  reality  the  sight  of  these  ruins  is  singularly 
impressive.  The  arch  of  Septimus  Severus  bounds 
one  end  and  the  arch  of  Titus  the  other,  while  the 
Forum  extends  in  width  from  the  house  ot  the 
Vestal  Virgins  to  the  enormous  basilica  eredled  by 
Constantine.  It  seems  incredible  as  one  looks  down 
upon  the  Forum  to-day  that  only  fifty  years  ago  all 
these  relics  of  Imperial  Rome  were  covered  by  over 
twenty  feet  of  earth  and  that  only  what  Byron 
called  a  "nameless  column  with  a  buried  base," 
represented  the  wealth  of  ancient  art  that  lay  hid- 
den here.  Even  Gibbon,  when  he  formed  the  plan 
of  his  great  history  while  listening  to  the  barefooted 
friars  chanting  in  the  Church  of  Ara  Coeli,  was  ig- 
norant of  the  fad  that  he  was  treading  on  ground 
which  covered  that  Forum  he  revived  for  us. 

To-day  the  Roman  Forum  is  as  full  of  interest 
as  is  Pompeii.  Here  may  be  traced  the  Via  Sacra, 
with  its  original  pavement  of  heavy  blocks  of  lime- 
stone, and  here  also  may  be  seen  the  remains  of  the 
small  shops  which  were  once  permitted  along  this 
thoroughfare.  The  Forum  was  the  chief  meeting 
place  of  the  people  and  in  its  best  days  it  covered 
about  twenty-five  acres.  Originally  it  had  been  a 
marshy  lake  and  it  was  drained  by  the  Cloaca  Max- 
ima or  great  sewer,  built  by  the  first  Tarquin.  Al- 
though construded  without  mortar,  this  old  sewer 
still  survives  and  serves  to  carry  the  drainage  of  the 
Forum  into  the  Tiber.  We  may  look  down  into  it 
to-day  from  an  opening  in  the  Forum. 

Us] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

Arranged  in  the  form  of  a  parallelogram,  the 
most  conspicuous  things  in  the  Forum  to-day  are 
the  three  Corinthian  columns  of  the  temple  of 
Castor  and  Pollux,  the  eight  columns  of  the  temple 
of  Saturn,  the  three  columns  of  the  temple  of  Ves- 
pasian, the  arch  of  Septimus  Severus,  the  arch  of 
Titus,  the  temple  of  Faustina  and  the  Basilica  of 
Constantine.  The  two  arches  are  in  excellent  preser- 
vation. That  of  Septimus  Severus  is  battered,  but 
one  can  still  trace  the  bas-reliefs  which  record  the 
vid:ories  of  the  Emperor  in  his  campaigns  in  the 
East.  The  arch  of  Titus  commemorates  his  con- 
quest of  Jerusalem,  and  one  of  the  reliefs  shows  the 
Emperor's  triumphal  entry  into  Rome. 

All  about  the  Forum  are  scattered  remains  of 
famous  objects.  One  of  the  most  interesting  is  some 
portions  of  the  rostra  from  which  Cicero  and  other 
great  orators  delivered  their  speeches.  The  place 
gained  its  name  from  the  brazen  beaks  of  captured 
ships  of  war,  which  were  brought  home  and  nailed 
up  on  the  orators'  platform.  A  few  steps  are  all 
that  is  left  of  the  Basilica  Julia,  a  massive  court- 
house begun  by  Julius  Caesar,  but  finished  by  Au- 
gustus. A  heap  of  concrete  is  all  that  remains  of 
the  temple  of  Vesta,  where  the  sacred  fire  was  kept 
burning  at  all  hours.  The  vestals  who  performed 
this  service  were  highly  honored,  but  the  ruins  of 
their  house  show  that  it  was  poorly  located  for  com- 
fort. Built  with  an  open  court,  it  stood  at  the  base 
of  the  Palatine  Hill  and  must  have  been  very  damp 
and  unwholesome.  We  can  still  see  the  furnace 
where  charcoal  made  from  olive  and  oak  wood  was 
burned  to  heat  this  house. 

Besides  the  many  magnificent  temples,  arches 
and  columns  that  lined  the  Forum,  the  place 
was  ornamented  with  statues  gathered  from  many 

[S6] 


The  Arch  of  Titus  in  the  Roman  Forum,  With  the 

Colosseum  in  the  Distance.    This  Arch  was  Erefted  by  Domician 

to  Commemorate  the  Subjection  of  the  Jews  by 

Titus  in  the  Year  70  A.  D. 


Romance  and  Bkauty  ok  Roman  Ruins 

places.  The  pride  that  the  Atlicniaii  took  in  the 
Acropolis  was  shown  by  the  Roman  in  the  Forum. 
It  represented  the  splendid  empire  that  embraced 
the  entire  known  world,  livery  Roman  felt  that  he 
had  a  personal  interest  in  the  place,  and  when  any 
great  public  demonstration  was  announced  all  turned 
out  to  see  what  was  done  in  the  Forum.  'I'he  Ciusars 
spent  imperial  fortunes  in  decorating  the  Forum 
and  in  eredting  the  superb  buildings  which  lined  the 
Via  Sacra.  Gold  and  marble  were  lavished  on  these 
strudures,  which  were  finished  in  the  highest  style 
of  art. 

On  one  side  of  the  Forum  was  the  Capitoline 
Hill,  the  seat  of  the  Kings  and  the  Republic,  and 
on  the  other  the  Palatine  Hill,  the  homes  of  the 
Emperors.  The  Capitoline  is  now  covered  by  a 
museum  which  contains  some  famous  art  treasures, 
chief  among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  Dying 
Gaul,  misnamed  the  Gladiator  by  Byron,  the  Marble 
Faun  and  others.  Here  also  is  shown  the  Tarpeian 
Rock,  which  commemorates  the  treachery  of  the 
Roman  maiden  Tarpeia  and  the  swift  vengeance  that 
overcame  her  when  the  enemies  of  Rome  were  given 
admittance  to  this  stronghold.  The  Rock  is  not 
impressive,  as  buildings  have  been  ereded  at  its 
base.  On  the  Capitoline  Hill  is  the  Church  of  Ara 
Coeli,  which  is  mainly  noteworthy  because  it  pos- 
sesses a  famous  Bambino  or  holy  image  that  is  be- 
decked with  gems  by  faithful  Catholics.  The  shrine 
of  the  Bambino  is  filled  with  letters  from  persons 
who  hope  by  these  appeals  to  have  their  prayers 
answered. 

The  Palatine  Hill  is  a  picturesque  heap  of  ruins, 
crowned  by  a  line  of  cypresses.  Here  are  masses  of 
brickwork  and  great  arches  which  once  formed  the 
foundations  of  the  palaces  of  the  Cssars.   Incredibly 

[57] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
massive  are  all  these  remains,  the  brick  and  cement 
having  defied  the  ravages  of  time.  Originally  the 
home  of  many  private  citizens  of  wealth,  the  Pala- 
tine was  gradually  absorbed  by  the  Emperors.  The 
finest  remains  to-day  are  those  of  the  palace  of 
Caligula,  the  Emperor  who  came  to  believe  that  he 
was  a  god  and  should  be  worshiped  by  the  people 
as  a  deity.  Caligula  greatly  enlarged  the  palace 
built  by  Domitian,  and  his  house  has  been  preserved 
because  it  was  used  by  the  Popes  who  succeeded  to 
this  property. 

The  Italian  Government,  by  its  systematic  ex- 
cavations, is  doing  much  to  clear  up  many  disputed 
points  in  early  Roman  history.  Back  of  the  house 
of  Livia,  on  the  summit  of  the  Palatine  Hill,  the  ex- 
cavations have  recently  uncovered  an  ancient  well 
of  plainly  defined  Mykenian  work,  showing  that  the 
Greeks  from  the  site  of  ancient  Troy  preceded  the 
Romans  in  this  settlement  on  the  banks  of  the 
Tiber.  Here  may  be  seen  the  well  and  the  peculiar 
curbing  which  the  best  archaeologists  agree  was  the 
work  of  Mykenians,  whose  ancient  cities  on  the 
windy  plain  of  Troy  were  unearthed  by  Professor 
Schliemann.  One  of  the  impressive  sights  on  the 
Palatine  Hill  is  the  series  of  massive  arches  built  by 
Septimus  Severus  on  the  southeastern  end  of  the 
hill  to  make  more  room  for  his  palace.  These  arches 
served  as  the  foundations  for  this  imperial  residence 
which  has  been  absolutely  destroyed.  They  are  so 
finely  built  that  they  seem  to  be  the  ruins  of  the 
palace  itself. 


[58] 


Art  in 

St.  Peter's  and  the 

Vatican 


ST.  Peter's  of  Rome  is  the  greatest  religious 
shrine  in  Christendom,  as  it  is  the  largest 
church  edifice  in  the  world.  Its  fine  dome,  the 
work  of  Michelangelo,  is  the  central  feature  in 
every  view  of  Rome,  precisely  as  the  Washington 
monument  appears  in  every  view  of  our  national 
capital.  Two  enormous  colonnades  form  a  half- 
circle  in  which  are  grouped  an  Egyptian  obelisk  and 
two  artistic  fountains.  The  whole  square  is  paved 
with  stone  and  many  wide  stone  steps  lead  up  to 
the  entrance  of  the  church.  Your  eye  is  satisfied 
with  the  sweep  of  the  colonnades,  surmounted  by 
fine  statues,  the  beauty  of  the  fountains  and  the 
spaciousness  of  the  plaza;  but  when  you  enter  the 
church  itself,  the  unexpeded  size  of  it  hits  you  like 
a  blow.  You  may  have  mastered  all  the  dimensions, 
but  figures  are  worthless  before  these  soaring  arches 
and  this  tremendous  dome,  which  is  so  well  pro- 
portioned that  it  gives  no  hint  of  its  great  size. 

A  friend  with  whom  I  first  saw  St.  Peter's  said 
this  dome  seemed  to  him  no  larger  than  St.  Paul's 
in  London;  vet  two  domes  such  as  that  constru6led 
by  Sir  Christopher  Wren  could  be  placed  in  this. 
It  is  the  same  with  the  colossal  nave.  Entering  the 
door  on  a  dark  morninor  the  nave  seems  to  lose  it- 
self  in  the  dim  shadows  of  the  dome.  On  each  side 
is  another  nave  as  large  as  an  ordinary  church.    Far 


[59] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

in  the  distance  gleams  the  circle  of  ever-burning 
lamps  about  the  tomb  of  St.  Peter.  On  every  hand 
are  pillars  of  marble,  richly  ornamented  with  de- 
signs in  gold,  silver,  malachite,  onyx  and  other 
beautiful  stones.  All  around  are  the  tombs  of  Popes, 
wrought  in  marble  and  bronze,  with  panels  filled 
with  mosaic  copies  of  famous  masterpieces. 

When  you  look  up  into  Michelangelo's  dome 
it  gives  you  no  idea  of  its  height  to  say  that  it  is 
four  hundred  and  ninety-three  feet  in  the  clear. 
The  only  way  to  get  any  conception  of  this  tre- 
mendous height  is  to  ascend  the  dome  and  look 
down  from  the  topmost  gallery.  From  this  point 
of  vantage  people  walking  over  the  floor  below 
look  like  ants.  Here  also  may  be  studied  the  splen- 
did mosaics  designed  by  the  great  sculptor.  Be- 
neath the  dome  is  a  massive  bronze  canopy  covering 
the  papal  altar  over  the  tomb  of  St.  Peter.  Ninety- 
three  lamps,  always  burning,  are  arranged  along  the 
marble  balustrade  around  the  tomb. 

To  the  right,  in  the  nave,  is  the  bronze  statue 
of  St.  Peter,  with  the  great  toe  of  the  right  foot 
worn  smooth  by  the  kisses  of  thousands  of  devout 
Catholics.  To  the  left,  in  the  transept,  are  confes- 
sional boxes  for  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  It  is 
borne  in  upon  you  that  this  is  a  san6tuary  for  Catho- 
lics of  the  whole  world,  to  which  many  famous  art- 
ists have  lent  their  skill  and  upon  which  over  fifty 
million  dollars  have  been  lavished.  Yet  usually  this 
vast  church  is  well  nigh  empty,  the  most  regular 
and  enthusiastic  visitors  being  tourists  of  all  nations 
with  Baedekers  in  hand. 

The  decoration  of  St.  Peter's  would  be  called 
over-florid  in  any  other  church  edifice,  but  here  gold 
and  marble  and  mosaics  of  the  most  beautiful  stones 
have  been  so  lavishly  used  that  each  adds  to  the 

[60] 


St.  Peter's  and  the  Vatican 

efFedtiveness  of  the  others.  Among  the  art  treasures, 
the  most  famous  is  the  marble  Picta  by  Michel- 
angelo, carved  when  the  sculptor  was  only  twenty- 
three  years  old.  The  face  of  the  Virgin  is  very 
youthful,  but  touched  with  heavy  sorrow,  and  the 
figure  of  Christ  is  full  of  pathos. 

Canova  has  contributed  two  works  of  the  great- 
est beauty— the  tomb  of  Pope  Clement  XIII  and 
the  monument  to  the  Stuarts.  It  will  surprise  most 
readers  to  learn  that  three  of  the  unfortunate  Stuart 
family  are  buried  here  in  a  tomb  for  which  Canova 
designed  two  angels  guarding  the  gate,  figures  that 
have  never  been  surpassed  in  their  union  of  majesty 
and  grace.  Thorwaldsen  has  also  furnished  a  strik- 
ing design  for  the  tomb  of  Pius  VII,  and  Bernini 
fashioned  the  bronze  canopy  that  rises  above  the 
high  altar. 

St.  Peter's  was  built  on  the  spot  where  the  great 
apostle  was  crucified  by  Nero's  executioners.  Here, 
where  rises  the  greatest  church  in  all  the  world, 
was  the  Circus  of  Nero,  that  witnessed  the  torture 
and  the  cruel  death  of  hundreds  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians. St.  Peter  had  been  confined  in  the  Mamer- 
tine  prison,  one  of  the  ugliest  dungeons  of  old 
Rome,  near  the  Forum.  It  was  in  this  underground 
hole,  walled  about  with  ancient  stone,  that  Jugurtha 
was  starved  and  that  many  other  prisoners  of  the 
Caesars  were  done  to  death  in  the  most  cruel  way. 

Here  also  is  a  spring  of  pure  water  bubbling 
up  out  of  the  floor,  a  miracle  wrought  by  St.  Peter 
that  he  might  secure  water  with  which  to  baptize 
his  jailer  whom  he  had  converted.  This  gloomy 
Mamertine  prison  gives  you  a  realization  of  the 
atrocious  cruelty  of  the  pagan  Emperors  of  Rome, 
just  as  St.  Peter's  makes  you  appreciate  the  religion 
that  softened  men's  hearts  and  made  love  the  trium- 

[6.] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

phant  force  of  conquest,  greater  than  the  swords  of 
all  the  Roman  legions. 

The  Vatican  was  used  first  for  state  ceremonies, 
but,  after  the  return  of  the  Popes  from  Avignon  it 
became  the  papal  residence.  Nicholas  V,  in  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  conceived  the  idea 
of  making  the  Vatican  a  superb  palace  for  housing 
the  Cardinals  and  all  the  public  offices  of  the  church. 
That  idea  was  carried  out  by  his  successors,  each  of 
whom  has  added  to  its  magnificence. 

The  result  is  a  little  city  of  buildings  surround- 
ing St.  Peter's,  three  hundred  and  eighty-four  yards 
long  by  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  yards  broad,  with 
over  eleven  thousand  halls  and  chambers  and  twenty 
courts.  The  main  entrance  to  the  Vatican  is  at  the 
end  of  the  right  colonnade  of  St.  Peter's,  but  since 
the  papal  government  was  deprived  of  temporal 
power  nearly  all  visitors  have  been  forced  to  pass 
around  to  the  left  and  back  of  St.  Peter's  to  gain 
entrance  to  the  galleries.  The  first  way  is  only 
about  one  hundred  yards;  the  other  fully  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile.  On  rainy  days  it  is  a  sad  sight 
to  see  tourists  of  all  races  trudging  through  the  wet 
because  they  are  barred  from  this  dired:  entrance. 

The  most  attractive  part  of  the  Vatican  collec- 
tions is  the  museum  of  sculpture,  which  contains  a 
few  great  masterpieces  and  an  enormous  mass  of 
other  statuary  which  is  worth  little  attention.  The 
average  tourist  wearies  himself  by  trying  to  see 
everything.  The  result  Is  that  he  has  only  a  con- 
fused recolledion  of  interminable  lines  of  marble 
and  bronze  figures.  Among  the  great  things,  the 
best  is  the  Apoxyomenos  or  scraper,  a  Greek  ath- 
lete scraping  the  oil  from  his  right  arm.  The  statue 
is  believed  to  be  a  copy  from  Lysippus,  one  of  the 
foremost  Greek  sculptors,  and  it  is  so  perfeft  in 

[62] 


St.  Peter's  and  the  Vatican 

every  way  that  one  never  tires  of  studying  it.  1  he 
Antinous,  from  an  original  by  Praxiteles,  and  the 
Apollo  Belvedere  have  the  same  lightness  and  grace 
as  the  Greek  athlete;  they  embody  in  enduring 
marble  the  strength  and  beauty  which  everyone 
admires,  and  they  rest  and  satisfy  the  eye  by  their 
perfect  proportions  and  their  immortal  youth. 

A  great  contrast  to  these  is  the  group  of  The 
Laocoon,  a  tragedy  in  stone,  which  seems  just  as 
poignant  to-day  as  when  the  unknown  sculptor 
carved  it  from  a  block  of  marble.  The  agony  in 
the  father's  face  as  he  realizes  that  the  serpent  is 
too  powerful  to  struggle  against,  touches  the  heart. 
This  figure  of  the  poor  father,  with  tense  muscles 
and  despairing  face,  seems  to  typify  the  lot  of  so 
many  hopeless  people  in  their  fruitless  struggle 
against  misfortune,  sickness  and  sorrow.  Canova 
has  contributed  three  statues  to  this  gallery,  but, 
though  they  are  wonderfully  clever,  you  feel  in- 
stindively  that  the  modern  sculptor  had  not  grasped 
the  secret  of  the  old  masters  of  the  craft. 

Aside  from  the  statuary,  the  other  great  things 
in  the  Vatican  are  the  Sistine  Chapel  and  the  Stanze 
of  Raphael.  Pope  Sixtus  IV  decided  to  have  a 
chapel  decorated  by  the  greatest  artists  of  his  day. 
The  result  is  the  most  sumptuous  room  in  Rome, 
if  not  in  the  world.  Perugine,  Botticelli  and  Ghir- 
landajo  were  among  the  minor  artists  who  lent  their 
genius  to  the  decoration  of  the  walls  and  the  panels; 
but  it  was  Michelangelo  who  made  the  chapel 
unique.  He  covered  the  ceiling  of  this  chapel  with 
heroic  figures  of  prophets  and  sibyls,  and  he  pidlurcd 
in  a  great  series  the  creation,  the  fall  of  man  and  the 
prosped  of  redemption.  The  figures  of  Michel- 
angelo are  drawn  with  the  same  power  that  shines 
through  the  stone  figures  which  adorn  the  tombs  of 

[63] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

the  Medici  in  Florence.  No  other  artist  ever  drew 
with  the  same  combination  of  demoniac  force  and 
perfedl  certainty  of  form. 

This  work  on  the  chapel  ceiling  is  far  finer  than 
anything  in  "The  Last  Judgment,"  the  enormous 
fresco  that  covers  the  end  of  the  chapel.  What  this 
pidure  may  have  been  before  it  was  blackened  by 
time  and  smoke,  no  one  can  say,  but  I  doubt  the 
sincerity  of  those  who  indulge  in  superlatives  to- 
day about  its  grandeur  and  impressiveness.  At  least 
they  must  have  a  powerful  imagination  to  get  any 
pleasure  or  any  thrills  from  this  gloomy  pidure  of 
a  denunciatory  Christ  dealing  out  punishment  to  a 
wicked  world.  Only  with  the  aid  of  a  strong  glass 
can  one  get  any  satisfaftion  from  this  fresco. 

The  Stanze  or  Halls  of  Raphael,  which  you 
enter  after  viewing  the  Sistine  Chapel,  were  executed 
on  the  order  of  Julius  II,  who  desired  some  fine 
decoration  for  his  four  living-rooms.  In  a  series  of 
allegorical  and  religious  pidures  Raphael  covered 
these  walls  with  the  rich  fruit  of  his  imagination. 
The  leaders  of  literature  and  of  religion  are  depifted 
as  well  as  significant  events  in  the  history  of  the 
church.  These  pidures  give  the  impression  of  a 
firmly  centered,  wholesome  genius  who  found  this 
world  a  good  one  to  live  in.  There  is  nothing  mor- 
bid nor  gloomy  in  the  whole  series,  while  the  pid- 
ures  reveal  marvelous  command  over  all  the  tech- 
nical difficulties  of  the  artist's  work. 

In  the  Vatican  pidture  gallery  is  another  paint- 
ing by  Raphael  which  is  worthy  of  study.  It  is  the 
famous  "Transfiguration"  on  which  the  painter 
was  at  work  when  death  came,  after  a  brief  illness. 
Of  all  the  religious  paintings  that  I  saw  in  Rome 
this  pleased  me  the  best.  It  is  full  of  spirituality 
and  the  coloring  is  as  fine  as  in  any  canvas  of  Titian. 

[64] 


St.  Peter's  and  the  Vatican 

Throughout  Rome  are  scattered  a  halt  dozen 
galleries  ot  pictures,  each  of  which  contains  a  few 
masterpieces.  For  the  sake  of  the  tourist,  it  would 
be  a  boon  if  the  really  great  paintings  from  each  of 
these  galleries  could  be  gathered  in  one  central 
place.  In  the  Borghese  gallery  is  Titian's  **Sacrcd 
and  Profane  Love,"  for  which  Pierpont  Morgan  is 
said  to  have  offered  one  million  dollars.  Although 
the  coloring  is  extraordinarily  beautiful  the  picture 
in  itself  does  not  seem  to  me  to  rank  with  many 
masterpieces  of  other  painters.  In  this  same  gallery 
is  one  of  Canova's  best  pieces  of  sculpture-the 
well-known,  life-size  statue  of  Princess  Borghese, 
who  was  the  beautiful  Pauline  Bonaparte. 

In  the  Barberini  gallery  is  one  great  picfture- 
Guido  Reni's  portrait  of  Beatrice  Cenci,  a  haunting 
face  that  never  seems  to  look  twice  the  same.  The 
painter  has  given  this  girl,  who  killed  her  father, 
heavy-lidded  eyes,  which  seem  ready  to  fill  with 
tears,  but  there  is  something  mysterious  and  elusive 
about  the  expression  of  her  face,  as  though  she 
longed  to  tell  her  secret,  yet  dared  not  break  her 
silence.  If  we  had  portraits  such  as  this  of  all  the 
famous  historical  personages  of  Rome,  it  would  be 
much  easier  to  understand  their  aftions. 

In  the  time  of  Trajan,  Rome  is  said  to  have  had 
thirteen  hundred  fountains.  How  many  there  are 
to-day  I  know  not,  but  you  seem  to  come  upon 
them  in  the  most  unexpeded  places.  The  finest  of 
all  is  the  Fountain  of  Trevi,  built  by  Clement  XII 
and  supplied  with  water  by  the  Acqua  Vergine, 
which  once  brought  water  to  the  Baths  of  Agrippa. 
Another  beautiful  fountain  is  that  of  the  Nymphs, 
in  front  of  the  ruins  of  the  Baths  of  Diocletian,  and 
not  far  from  the  railway  station.  This  fountain  is 
one  of  the  first  things  seen  on  entering  Rome. 

[65] 


The  Colosseum 

AND  Along  the  Appian 

Way 


THE  ancient  pagan  remains  in  Rome  seem  to 
appeal  to  the  average  tourist  far  more  than 
the  churches  and  the  relics  of  the  early  Chris- 
tian era.  Perhaps  this  is  because  Roman  history  in 
the  days  of  the  Caesars  was  so  filled  with  romance 
that  it  impresses  itself  upon  the  imagination  more 
vividly  than  any  other  era  in  the  annals  of  the 
world.  Never  before  was  centralization  of  power 
and  wealth  carried  to  so  high  a  degree;  never  before 
nor  since  has  one  man  exercised  despotic  rule  over 
so  many  millions.  Augustus,  Domitian,  Trajan, 
Hadrian-to  take  only  a  few  of  the  typical  builders 
among  the  Emperors— lavished  millions  in  treasure 
upon  palaces  and  public  buildings;  they  gathered 
statues  from  Greece,  obelisks  from  Egypt  and  beauti- 
ful marbles  from  many  lands.  Gold  and  ivory  and 
precious  stones  were  freely  used  in  the  decoration 
of  their  buildings. 

It  is  this  excess  of  luxury,  joined  to  absolute 
power  of  life  or  death  over  millions  of  people,  that 
has  so  powerful  an  effedt  upon  the  modern  imagina- 
tion. Hence,  of  all  the  buildings  in  Rome  that 
have  come  down  from  the  days  of  the  Caesars,  the 
one  which  satisfies  the  eye  and  the  mind  most  com- 
pletely is  the  Colosseum,  that  gigantic  amphitheater 
which  probably  witnessed  more  bloodshed  and  mis- 
ery than  any  other  place  in  Rome.    Familiar  as  are 


[66] 


The  Colosseum  and  the  Appian  Way 

the  ruins  of  this  great  Flavian  amphitheater,  through 
photographs  and  prints,  the  building  itself  is  one  of 
the  most  impressive  in  all  Rome,  through  sheer  size 
and  massiveness. 

The  vandal  hands  of  Popes  and  others  have 
stripped  the  Colosseum  of  the  marbles  that  covered 
its  walls,  but  nothing  can  harm  the  magnihcent  pro- 
portions of  this  great  open-air  theater.  We  are  told 
that  it  had  seats  for  seventy  thousand  spedtators, 
and  Gibbon  gives  many  details  ot  the  arrangement 
of  the  tiers  of  seats  and  the  provisions  for  the  com- 
fort of  the  patricians  who  filled  the  choice  places 
near  the  arena.  To-day  about  half  the  outer  wall  is 
standing,  which  permits  us  to  see  the  four  stories, 
with  Doric  columns  on  the  first,  Ionic  on  the  second, 
Corinthian  on  the  third  and  Corinthian  pilasters  on 
the  fourth  story. 

Twelve  thousand  captive  Jews  are  said  to  have 
been  employed  in  building  this  huge  structure  and 
they  certainly  did  their  work  well.  Left  merely  to 
the  elements,  the  Colosseum  would  be  to-day  among 
the  best  preserved  of  the  ruins  of  Rome;  but  used 
as  a  quarry  for  hundreds  of  years,  the  wonder  is 
that  one  stone  remains  upon  another.  As  it  is,  the 
massive  limestone  slabs  are  dug  full  of  holes,  the 
marks  left  by  those  who  searched  for  the  bronze  or 
iron  clamps  used  to  fasten  the  stones  together. 
Several  millions  have  been  spent  by  Popes  in  re- 
storing various  parts  of  the  Colosseum  and  the 
Italian  Government  has  done  good  work  in  excavat- 
ing the  interior,  so  that  the  ancient  arrangements 
for  providing  entertainments  are  now  made  clear. 

Here  may  be  seen  the  underground  passages  by 
which  the  lions  and  tigers  were  driven  into  the 
arena,  and  here  are  the  small  rooms  where  Chris- 
tians and  other  captives  were  kept  until   the   time 

[67] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

came  for  them  to  be  exposed  in  the  great  amphi- 
theater. Standing  in  the  center  of  the  arena  and 
looking  up  at  these  tiers  on  tiers  of  seats,  one  may 
easily  understand  the  fear  that  must  have  gripped 
the  hearts  even  of  the  professional  gladiators  when 
they  surveyed  the  vast  and  unsympathetic  audience 
that  soon  would  decide  their  fate,  should  they  chance 
to  be  defeated.  And  what  imagination  can  conceive 
the  cold  horror  of  the  defenseless  Christians  when 
they  saw  the  savage  lions  bounding  toward  them. 
These  stones  of  the  wall  that  encircles  the  arena 
could  tell  some  grisly  tales  of  bloodshed,  cruelty 
and  unspeakable  terror.  Walking  about  this  old 
arena  brings  you  very  close  to  the  days  of  the  Fla- 
vians and  the  Antonines;  it  makes  history  warm 
and  vital. 

Not  far  from  the  Colosseum  begins  the  Appian 
Way,  that  great  highway  which  led  from  Rome  to 
Brindisi,  by  way  of  Capri.  You  pass  through  the 
Porta  Capena  out  upon  this  old  road,  which  has 
been  cleared  for  a  distance  of  over  ten  miles.  It  is 
only  about  twenty-six  feet  wide,  with  a  curbstone  on 
each  side,  but  so  well  was  it  paved  with  hexagonal 
slabs  of  lava  that  some  of  the  old  pavement  remains 
to-day,  as  it  was  in  the  time  of  the  Caesars. 

For  several  miles  out  of  Rome  the  Appian  Way 
was  lined  with  tombs,  the  ruins  of  which  may  be 
seen  on  either  hand.  The  Roman  law  was  very 
stringent  in  prohibiting  burial  inside  the  city  walls, 
so  the  custom  prevailed  of  ered:ing  tombs  along  the 
public  roads  near  the  city. 

A  short  distance  from  the  Porta  Capena  a  side 
road  leads  up  to  the  colossal  ruins  of  the  Baths  of 
Caracalla,  which  are  a  mile  in  circumference.  Only 
the  massive  walls  and  arches  of  these  baths  now  re- 
main, but  these  impress  one  as  deeply  as  the  Colos- 

[68] 


The  Colosseum  and  the  Appian  Wav 

seum  with  the  lavish  extravagance  of  the  Roman 
Emperors.  These  walls  are  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet 
thick  and  they  rise  to  a  height  of  one  hundred  and 
forty  feet.  Many  arches  are  from  sixty  to  eighty 
feet  high.  You  walk  through  the  enormous  chamb- 
ers which  Caracalla  provided  for  the  luxurious  bath- 
ing oi  sixteen  hundred  people. 

In  the  center  was  a  spacious  recreation  ground, 
where  hundreds  indulged  in  athletic  sports,  and 
Gibbon  tells  us  that  this  place  was  really  a  great 
club,  where  the  poorest  Roman  citizen  could  find 
entertainment  all  day  with  the  expenditure  of  only 
a  few  cents.  For  years  the  arches  and  walls  of  these 
baths  were  overgrown  with  trees  and  vines.  On  one 
of  these  arches  Shelley  wrote  the  greater  part  of  his 
Prometheus  Unbound. 

Christian  and  pagan  dead  jostled  one  another 
out  on  this  Appian  Way.  When  the  persecution  of 
the  Christians  was  at  its  height  it  became  the  custom 
for  this  sedt  to  quarry  subterranean  passages  in  the 
soft  volcanic  rock  and  in  these  to  bury  their  dead. 
These  burial  places  came  to  be  called  catacombs. 
Many  miles  of  them  extend  around  Rome,  but  two 
of  the  largest  are  on  the  Appian  Way.  In  the  cata- 
combs of  St.  Calixtus  fifteen  Popes  and  two  hundred 
thousand  Christians  found  burial.  Provided  with  a 
wax  taper  one  may  descend  into  the  catacomb  of  St. 
Calixtus  and  walk  through  hundreds  of  feet  of  under- 
ground passages,  with  niches  on  both  sides  in  which 
once  rested  the  bodies  of  Christians. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  places  on  the  Appian 
Way  is  the  Quo  Vadis  Church,  said  to  be  erected 
on  the  spot  where  St.  Peter,  fleeing  from  Rome, 
saw  a  vision  of  the  Lord.  Peter,  who  had  escaped 
from  the  Romans  and  found  liberty  very  sweet, 
asked  Jesus:  "Lord,  whither  goest   thou?"     The 

[69] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

answer  came,  as  the  figure  disappeared:  *'To  be 
recrucified  in  Rome."  Peter  accepted  this  as  a  re- 
proof and  returned  to  Rome  and  martyrdom.  This 
spot  was  marked  by  a  chapel  and  a  marble  slab  on 
which  were  the  impression  of  the  feet  of  the  Lord. 
The  original  slab  is  now  in  the  basilica  of  St.  Sebas- 
tian, but  a  replica  is  in  this  little  church,  with  a  copy 
of  Michelangelo's  fine  statue  of  Christ,  with  the 
cross.  This  legendary  incident  furnished  the  main 
motive  for  Sienkiewicz's  romance,  ^o  Vadis^  and 
for  Wilson  Barrett's  play,  The  Sign  of  the  Cross. 

Beyond  this  church  is  the  finest  tomb  on  the 
Appian  Way,  the  burial  place  of  Cecilia  Metella, 
daughter  of  Quintus  Metellus,  who  conquered  Crete, 
and  wife  of  Crassus,  the  Rockefeller  of  his  time.  It 
looks  like  a  circular  fort,  massively  built  of  traver- 
tin stone,  and  it  may  be  seen  for  many  miles. 
Originally  it  was  covered  with  white  marble,  but 
this  was  stripped  oflF  during  the  Middle  Ages  to 
make  lime,  the  lower  slabs  being  removed  by  Pope 
Clement  XII  in  order  to  build  the  Fountain  of 
Trevi  in  Rome.  Although  used  as  a  fortress  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  this  tomb  has  survived  pradi- 
cally  as  it  was  originally  built,  with  the  exception 
of  the  loss  of  the  conical  roof.  The  irony  of  fate 
has  given  to  Cecilia  Metella  a  tomb  that  has  sur- 
vived the  splendid  palaces  of  Augustus  and  Nero, 
but  it  has  left  not  a  single  line  about  the  woman  to 
whose  memory  this  superb  memorial  was  reared. 
Lord  Byron,  in  Childe  Harold,  touches  on  this 
curious  feature  in  some  noble  lines,  which  are  well 
worth  reading.  In  fad:  it  will  pay  anyone  to  read 
what  Byron  wrote  on  the  famous  things  which  he 
saw  in  Rome.  Though  he  spent  much  time  in 
dalliance  with  the  beautiful  Countess  GuiccioH,  he 
saw  Rome  thoroughly,  and  no  one  in  verse  or  prose 

[7°] 


Michelangelo's  Heroic  Statue  of  the  Young  David, 

Now  in  the  Cupola  of  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  in  Florence.   It 

Stood  in  Front  of  the  Palazzo  Vecchio  Until  1873,  But 

its  Place  There  is  Now  Filled  With  a  Plaster  Copy 


The  Colosseum  and  the  Appian  Way 

has  ever  surpassed  his  word-piciturcs  of  the  ruins  of 
the  Imperial  City. 

Beyond  this  tomb  the  Appian  Way  extends 
straight  across  the  desohite  Campagna  toward  the 
south.  The  eye  can  trace  it  for  about  ten  miles,  a 
white  line  cutting  through  a  great  expanse  of  green. 
Nothing  breaks  the  monotony  of  this  vast  sea  of 
verdure  but  the  ruins  of  the  Claudian  aqueduct  that 
once  brought  millions  of  gallons  of  water  to  Rome 
to  supply  the  baths  and  fountains  of  the  Caesars. 
These  crumbling  arches  extend  for  miles  across  the 
Campagna  and  give  a  human  touch  to  what  would 
otherwise  be  a  desolate  waste.  Rome  is  the  only 
city  that  I  know  which  has  no  suburbs.  Here  is 
no  gradual  change  from  busy  thoroughfares  to  vil- 
lage quiet,  but  one  passes  suddenly  from  the  bustle 
and  life  of  a  great  city  to  the  solitude  of  a  desert. 
All  around  the  city  stretches  this  great  level  plain, 
without  trees,  without  houses,  without  life. 

On  the  return  from  the  Appian  Way  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  stop  at  the  great  church  of  St.  Paul  be- 
yond the  walls.  This  huge  basilica,  which  is  scarcely 
less  impressive  than  St.  Peter's,  was  eredled  on  the 
spot  where  the  body  of  St.  Paul  was  buried,  after 
his  decapitation  by  order  of  Nero.  The  main  nave 
is  decorated  with  pillars  of  granite  which  cost  one 
thousand  dollars  each,  and  in  the  center  is  the  papal 
altar,  its  bronze  pavilion  supported  by  four  alabaster 
pillars  from  Assouan,  Egypt,  a  gift  from  Mehemet 
AH.  This  pavilion  covers  the  place  where  St.  Paul 
and  the  Apostle  Timothy  are  buried  and  it  was 
here  that  Ignatius  de  Loyola  and  his  followers  took 
the  vows  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  One  of  the  feat- 
ures of  the  church  is  the  portraits  of  all  the  Popes, 
from  Peter  down  to  Pius  X.  The  roof  is  especially 
rich  being  covered  with  gilding. 

[7'] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

On  the  way  back  from  St.  Paul's  it  is  well  to 
stop  at  the  English  and  American  cemetery,  where 
may  be  seen  the  graves  of  Shelley  and  Keats.  Shel- 
ley loved  Italy,  but  it  was  his  fate  to  be  drowned 
in  the  bay  of  Spezia.  He  left  direAions  in  his 
will  for  the  cremation  of  his  body,  and  Trelawney 
has  given  a  graphic  account  of  these  funeral  rites 
in  classic  style,  performed  under  his  dired:ion  in  the 
presence  of  Lord  Byron. 

The  most  conspicuous  thing  in  the  cemetery  is 
the  pyramid  of  Caius  Cestus,  made  of  concrete  and 
brick  and  faced  with  marble.  The  pyramid  is  ex- 
actly one-twentieth  of  the  size  of  Cheops,  and  it 
was  probably  designed  by  Cestus  to  be  an  enduring 
monument  to  him.  To  the  right  of  this  pyramid 
is  the  tomb  of  Keats,  which  will  appeal  to  all  lovers 
of  The  Eve  of  St.  Agnes  and  the  Ode  On  a  Grecian 
Urn  because  of  its  pathos: 

This  grave 

Contains  all  that  was  mortal 

of 

A  young  English  poet 

Who 

On  his  death-bed. 

In  the  bitterness  of  his  heart 

At  the  malicious  power  of  his  enemies. 

Desired 

These  words  to  be  written  on  his  tombstone: 

"Here  lies  one  whose  name  was  writ  in  water." 

February  27,  1824. 

If  the  tourist  has  only  a  short  time  to  spend  in 
Rome  he  will  find  it  profitable  to  attend  the  ledures 
delivered  by  several  professors  amid  the  scenes 
which  they  describe.  It  was  my  good  fortune  to 
hear  several  leftures  by  Professor  L.  Reynaud,  an 
accomplished  Roman  scholar,  who  is  an  admirable 
talker  with  a  genuine  gift  of  humor. 

[72] 


Hadrian's 
Tomb  and  His  Villa 

AT  TlVOLl 


IN  any  view  of  Rome  one  of  the  most  conspicu- 
ous objedts  is  the  round  fortress  known  as  the 
Castle  ot  St.  Angelo.  It  has  come  down  straight 
from  the  time  of  Hadrian,  who  planned  it  for  his 
tomb.  The  Emperor  was  buried  in  it,  as  well  as 
five  of  his  successors,  but  a  century  after  his  death 
it  was  converted  into  a  fortress,  and  as  such  it  was 
the  scene  of  some  of  the  fiercest  fighting  in  the 
Middle  Ages  and  the  Renaissance.  Hadrian  built 
this  tomb  with  massive  walls,  which  have  defied 
Goths  and  Vandals.  The  marble  carving  was  re- 
moved as  well  as  the  beautiful  marble  statues  that 
once  adorned  the  top  of  the  walls,  but  the  remainder 
of  the  building  stands  to-day  as  it  was  eredled  by 
the  greatest  builder  among  the  Romans. 

The  Borgia  family  built  an  underground  pas- 
sage from  the  castle  to  the  Vatican  and  the  Popes 
took  advantage  of  this  to  seek  safety  in  the  castle 
when  they  were  hard  pressed  by  their  enemies. 
The  castle  is  now  one  of  the  most  interesting 
museums  in  Rome,  as  many  relics  have  been  pre- 
served here  of  famous  prisoners  within  its  walls. 
You  are  shown  the  cell  in  which  Beatrice  Cenci  and 
her  mother  spent  their  last  davs  before  the  final 
condemnation,  as  well  as  the  cell  that  held  the  in- 
genious Benvenuto  Cellini.  From  the  appearance  of 
the  walls  and  the  door  of  this  cell  it  is  plain   that 


[73] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

the  famous  sculptor  was  permitted  to  escape,  as 
without  aid  he  never  could  have  freed  himself  from 
this  living  tomb. 

Here  are  preserved  the  various  instruments  of 
torture  which  were  used  by  Popes  and  others  to 
force  confessions  from  prisoners.  Pope  Sixtus  IV 
has  the  evil  reputation  of  having  retained  a  dodor 
to  keep  prisoners  alive  in  order  that  they  might  en- 
dure the  full  limit  of  torture.  The  cells  and  oubli- 
ettes in  this  castle  give  one  a  vivid  idea  of  the 
cruelty  with  which  prisoners  were  treated  in  those 
days  when  the  common  people  had  no  rights.  The 
whole  place  reeks  with  blood  and  lust. 

One  of  the  best  excursions  outside  Rome  is  to 
Tivoli  and  Hadrian's  villa.  Tivoli  was  celebrated 
in  the  early  history  of  Rome  as  the  place  where  the 
enemies  of  that  city  always  gathered,  but  finally  the 
Romans  had  their  revenge.  They  conquered  the 
place  in  338  B.  C,  and  after  that  Tivoli  became  one 
of  the  most  popular  of  summer  resorts  and  near  it 
were  built  the  villas  of  prominent  Romans.  To- 
day it  is  a  picturesque  hill  city,  with  a  portion  of  an 
old  Roman  temple  of  Hercules. 

The  Arno  used  to  pass  through  scores  of  holes 
in  the  rocks  and  form  more  than  one  hundred  water- 
falls just  below  Tivoli,  but  when  Gregory  XVI  was 
in  the  papal  chair,  a  landslide  occurred  at  Tivoli 
which  caused  many  deaths.  The  Pope  decided  that 
the  waterfalls  had  undermined  the  earth  and  thus 
led  to  the  disaster;  so  he  had  the  waters  diverted 
into  a  single  channel  and  by  boring  a  tunnel  through 
the  rock  he  converted  many  small  cascades  into  one 
fine  waterfall.  Over  on  the  other  side  of  the  canyon, 
beyond  the  waterfall,  is  a  house  which  stands  on  the 
site  of  the  villa  of  Horace,  the  Latin  poet,  who  has 
sung  of  the  beauty  of  Tivoli  and  its  falling  waters. 

.  [74] 


Hadrian's  Tomb  and  Villa  at  Tivoli 

Near  Tivoli  is  the  Villa  d'Este,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  Italian  gardens.  Originally,  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  eleventh  century,  it  was  laid  out  for  Card- 
inal Ippolito  d'Este,  who  was  the  son  of  the  Duke 
of  Ferrara  and  Lucrezia  Borgia.  The  grounds  are 
arranged  on  a  side  hill,  and  from  the  terrace  on  the 
highest  level  a  superb  view  may  be  had  of  the  whole 
Campagna  stretching  away  to  Rome.  The  dome 
of  St.  Peter's  is  clearly  visible,  as  is  the  old  Roman 
road  which  leads  to  the  city. 

The  glory  of  this  villa  is  several  rows  of  mag- 
nificent cypress  trees,  the  tallestin  the  world,  planted 
in  the  year  that  Columbus  discovered  America. 
They  seem  to  flourish  in  thisdampsoil  and  their  dark 
green  foliage  fits  in  with  the  amber-colored  statuary 
and  the  moss-grown  marble  balustrades.  The  villa 
has  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  Austrian  royal 
family,  and  it  is  badly  cared  for.  The  gardens  give 
one  a  good  idea  of  the  magnificence  of  Italian  life 
in  the  sixteenth  century. 

Not  far  from  Tivoli  are  the  ruins  of  Hadrian's 
villa,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  sights  in  Italy. 
Hadrian  was  the  greatest  traveler  of  all  the  Roman 
Emperors  and  when  he  decided  to  retire  as  the 
aftive  head  of  the  empire,  he  amused  himself  by 
duplicating  the  most  interesting  things  he  had  seen 
in  his  journeys.  In  this  villa  he  reproduced  the 
Academy,  the  Lyceum  and  the  Poekile  of  Athens, 
a  theater  at  Corinth,  the  Temple  of  Serapis  at 
Canopus  and  the  pyramid  of  Gizeh.  In  walking 
over  the  ruins  one  may  see  the  remains  of  the 
Greek  theater  and  of  many  other  buildings.  The 
whole  place  feeds  the  imagination  and  gives  one  a 
glimpse  of  the  splendors  of  Imperial  Rome. 


[75] 


Florence 
AND  Its  Many  Art 

Treasures 


A  NY  lover  of  Dante  and  Petrarch,  of  Michel- 
/\  angelo  and  Raphael  cannot  fail  to  feel  a 
JL  JLthrill  when  first  entering  Florence,  the  Italian 
city  which  most  completely  represents  the  beauty 
and  the  spirituality  of  the  Renaissance.  And,  when 
it  is  added  that  this  was  the  favorite  field  of  Savon- 
arola and  the  scene  of  his  cruel  death,  nothing  more 
is  needed  to  commend  it.  Florence  is  beautifully 
situated  on  the  banks  of  the  Arno,  along  which  the 
train  runs  from  Arezzo.  The  city  is  surrounded  by 
hills  which  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  the  hills 
about  San  Francisco,  in  their  rounded  forms  as  well 
as  in  their  coloring. 

When  you  leave  the  railroad  station  and  drive 
through  the  city,  its  mediasval  charader  impresses 
you.  Here  are  solid  stone  pavements  which  have 
been  in  continuous  use  since  the  times  of  the  Medici. 
Here  are  massive  palaces,  with  small  grilled  lower 
windows,  that  could  easily  be  converted  into  for- 
tresses to  withstand  a  long  siege.  Your  carriage 
passes  an  open  gallery  of  sculpture  and  a  great,  for- 
tress-like building  with  a  tower,  which  you  recog- 
nize from  the  pictures  you  have  seen,  as  the  Palazzo 
Vecchio,  the  home  of  the  Medici  and  the  scene  of 
Savonarola's  imprisonment  and  torture.  In  front 
of  this  grim  palace  Savonarola  and  two  other  priests 
were  burned  to  death  by  the  same  Florentine  mob 


[76] 


Florence  and  Its  Art  Treasures 

that  only  a  few  months  before  hung  breathless  on 
the  eloquent  words  of  this  Dominican  friar.  Michel- 
angelo's statue  of  David  and  Bcnvenuto  Cellini's 
Perseus  holding  up  the  head  of  Medusa  now  look 
down  on  the  place  of  death  of  this  monk,  who  tried 
to  induce  the  gay  Florentines  to  lead  better  lives. 

The  first  walk  around  Florence  is  one  long  to 
be  remembered.  From  my  hotel  it  was  only  a  short 
distance  to  the  Duomo,  or  Cathedral,  with  Giotto's 
Campanile  and  Baptistry.  All  these  buildings  are 
of  black  and  white  marble,  the  white  badly  black- 
ened by  the  weather.  The  facade  of  the  Cathedral 
is  imposing,  although  it  is  comparatively  new;  but 
the  Campanile,  designed  by  Giotto,  is  the  finest 
thing  architecturally  to  be  seen  in  Florence.  Ruskin 
declared  it  was  the  only  building  in  the  world  which 
could  not  be  improved  in  any  detail. 

In  going  from  the  Piazza  del  Duomo  down  to 
the  Piazza  della  Signoria  you  pass  through  a  num- 
ber of  narrow,  crowded  streets.  The  houses  are  tall 
and  massively  built,  but  the  finest  is  the  Strozzi 
Palace,  built  of  rustic  granite.  This  palace  was 
eredled  for  one  of  the  great  enemies  of  the  Medici 
and  it  stood  several  sieges.  In  the  end  the  Medici 
overthrew  the  Strozzi  and  this  palace  passed  into 
other  hands.  The  Piazza  della  Signoria  is  a  large 
square,  paved  with  stone  slabs.  On  one  side  rises 
the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  with  its  impressive  tower.  It 
was  originally  used  by  the  officers  of  the  Florentine 
republic,  but  afterward  became  the  home  of  Cosimo 
I,  the  founder  of  the  Medicean  dynasty. 

On  the  lower  side  of  the  square  is  the  Loggia 
dei  Lanzi,  an  open  portico,  beautified  with  master- 
pieces of  statuary  in  marble  and  bronze.  It  was  de- 
signed as  a  place  for  public  fundions  or  a  rostrum 
for  speakers.    Here  are   Cellini's  bronze  statue   of 

[77\ 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

Perseus  holding  up  the  severed  head  of  Medusa, 
Donatello's  bronze  Judith  and  Holofernes,  the 
marble  group  of  the  Rape  of  the  Sabines  by  Bologna, 
Menelaus  with  the  body  of  Patroclus,  and  Bologna's 
Hercules  and  Nessus.  Three  of  these  are  master- 
pieces of  the  first  class. 

In  front  of  the  palace  is  now  a  copy  of  Michel- 
angelo's heroic  figure  of  the  young  David  and 
Bologna's  bronze  equestrian  statue  of  Cosimo  I. 
This  massing  of  these  masterpieces  in  bronze  and 
marble  is  charaderistic  of  Florence,  whose  makers 
were  eager  that  it  should  be  the  most  beautiful  of 
Italian  cities.  Beyond  the  Loggia  is  the  long  and 
splendid  facade  of  the  Uffizi  Palace,  now  one  of 
the  greatest  art  galleries  in  the  world. 

Florence  is  built  on  both  sides  of  the  Arno  and 
the  quays  which  run  along  the  water's  edge  are 
called  Lungarno.  One  of  the  finest,  bears  the  name 
of  Amerigo  Vespucci,  the  navigator  who  had  the 
honor  of  having  the  continent  Columbus  discov- 
ered, named  after  him.  The  Arno  is  carefully  walled 
up  on  each  side  and  is  spanned  by  six  bridges,  the 
most  piduresque  of  which  is  the  Ponte  Vecchio. 
Near  this  bridge  the  old  houses  on  the  south  bank 
of  the  river,  form  one  of  the  most  pidluresque  views. 
They  rise  diredlly  from  the  water  to  the  height  of 
six  or  seven  stories,  with  many  curious  buttresses 
and  balconies.  With  their  tiled  roofs  and  discolored 
walls  they  present  a  pidure  of  mediaeval  homes  such 
as  may  be  seen  in  few  European  cities.  Here  along 
the  south  bank  of  this  river  everything  is  mellowed 
with  age;  nothing  seems  to  have  been  retouched  for 
hundreds  of  years.  Over  the  river  on  the  north 
side  are  the  spick  and  span  new  quays  and  the  great 
hotels  built  to  accommodate  the  globe-trotter  who 
thinks  he  can  "do"  Florence  in  two  days.    On  the 

[78] 


Florence  and  Its  Art  Treasures 
south  side  of  the  river  are  many  narrow  streets, 
not  over  ten  feet  wide,  which  follow  the  winding 
course  of  the  river.  The  houses  are  very  old,  with 
few  windows  on  the  street  floor,  and  with  massive 
oaken  doors,  studded  with  wrought  iron  spikes. 

One  of  the  buildings  in  Florence  which  makes 
the  deepest  impression  on  the  stranger  is  the 
Palazzo  Vecchio.  It  was  long  the  residence  of  the 
Medici,  that  remarkable  family  which  owed  its  rise 
to  its  success  in  medicine  and  which  was  not  ashamed 
to  place  pills  on  its  coat  of  arms.  Although  Flor- 
ence was  nominally  a  republic,  Cosimo  de  Medici 
ruled  it  like  a  despot  and  his  successors  wielded  the 
same  power.  But  these  Medici,  although  they  gave 
the  people  no  share  in  the  government,  did  every- 
thing in  their  power  to  beautify  the  city  and  make 
it  the  home  of  art  and  literature.  Under  Lorenzo 
the  Magnificent,  this  reached  its  height,  and  to  him 
the  Renaissance  in  Italy  owed  much  of  its  splendor. 

Here  in  this  Palazzo  Vecchio  may  be  found 
works  by  many  famous  artists.  The  later  decoration 
by  Vasari  and  others  is  very  striking.  One  of  the 
finest  rooms  is  now  used  by  the  Council  of  Flor- 
ence. Higher  up  in  the  tower  is  a  room,  with  a 
small  window  facing  the  south,  in  which  Savonarola 
was  confined  during  the  few  days  before  he  was 
burned  at  the  stake.  Down  in  the  square,  almost  in 
the  shadow  of  the  equestrian  figure  of  Cosimo,  the 
ruler  to  whom  he  had  refused  absolution,  is  a  bronze 
plate  in  the  pavement  which  marks  the  spot  of  the 
martyrdom  of  Savonarola.  Any  reader  of  Romola 
will  recall  the  two  great  scenes  in  that  novel-one  in 
which  the  fiery  monk  induced  the  great  multitude 
that  hung  on  his  words  to  make  a  bonfire  of  all 
their  ornaments;  the  other,  which  pictures  the  ter- 
rible death  of  the  man  who  saved   Romola  from 

[79] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

spiritual  despair.  George  Eliot's  historical  romance 
is  worth  careful  reading  for  its  beautiful  pictures  of 
Florence  and  for  its  study  of  the  spiritual  relations 
of  an  unselfish  woman  and  a  priest,  who  was  con- 
sumed with  desire  to  make  the  world  better. 

The  Piazzo  del  Duomo  contains  three  strudlures 
that  together  have  made  Florence  famous  for  over 
five  hundred  years.  The  first  is  the  Baptistry,  an 
o6lagonal  stru6ture,  which  served  as  a  cathedral 
until  the  building  of  the  Duomo  in  the  fourteenth 
century.  The  Baptistry,  in  which  all  children  born 
in  Florence  must  be  baptized,  is  mainly  noteworthy 
to-day  because  of  its  three  magnificent  bronze  doors, 
the  two  finest  of  which  were  made  by  Ghiberti.  One 
represents,  in  twenty-eight  sedlions,  the  history  of 
Christ,  while  the  other  and  better  known  depids  ten 
scenes  from  sacred  history.  Architeds  have  seen  in 
the  construdion  of  the  Baptistry  and  its  dome  the 
influence  of  the  Pantheon  at  Rome.  The  Cathedral 
or  Duomo  was  ordered  built  by  a  popular  vote  in 
1294,  but  it  was  not  completed  until  1436.  The 
dome  was  executed  by  Brunelleschi,  who  secured 
the  work  by  public  competition.  The  facade  of  the 
Cathedral  is  modern,  but,  despite  the  criticisms  of 
many  experts,  it  seems  to  me  that  it  fits  the  general 
design  of  the  building  and  is  unusually  impressive. 

Adjoining  the  Cathedral  is  the  Campanile  or 
bell  tower,  designed  by  Giotto.  Ruskin,  in  his 
Seven  Lamps  of  Archite^ure^  declares  that  power 
and  beauty  exist  in  their  highest  degree  only  in  this 
building.  The  Campanile  is  two  hundred  and  sev- 
enty-six feet  in  height,  a  square  strudure  of  four 
stories,  with  beautiful  windows  ornamented  with 
Italian  Gothic  tracery,  and  with  many  statues  and 
bas-reliefs.  From  whatever  side  one  views  the 
Campanile  it  satisfies  the  eye  completely. 

[80] 


Florence  and  Its  Art  Treasures 

Florence  is  as  famous  for  its  pi(^tures  as  for  its 
architecture  and  its  statuary.  Three  buildings  house 
three  great  collections.  The  first,  in  the  Uffizi  Pal- 
ace designed  by  Vasari,is  the  greatest.  The  finest 
bit  of  sculpture  in  these  galleries  is  the  Venus  de 
Medici,  found  in  Hadrian's  villa.  Of  the  paintings 
it  is  impossible  to  do  more  than  touch  upon  some 
of  the  greatest.  Here  may  be  seen  a  whole  room 
full  of  Sandro  Botticelli's  masterpieces,  of  which  the 
greatest  is  Venus  rising  from  a  sea-shell.  Cor- 
reggio  has  several  superb  pictures,  among  which  I 
liked  best  "The  Repose  in  Egypt,"  and  Michel- 
angelo is  seen  in  only  one  canvas-a  fine  Holy 
Family  with  splendid  coloring  and  with  a  number 
of  nude  figures  in  the  background  that  are  perfectly 
drawn,  but  have  no  connection  with  the  picture.  Of 
Titian,  Tintoretto,  Leonardo  and  other  masters 
there  are  several  specimens,  besides  a  large  number 
of  pictures  of  the  German  and  Flemish  schools,  in- 
cluding some  interesting  specimens  of  Albert  Diirer's 
work.  In  fact,  this  series  of  richly  ornamented 
rooms  is  so  full  of  fine  statuary  and  pictures  that  it 
would  require  many  days  to  study  them  as  they 
deserve.  I  spent  two  days  in  this  gallery  and  felt 
well  repaid  for  my  time  and  effort. 

A  long  gallery  which  extends  across  the  Arno 
joins  the  Uffizi  and  the  Pitti  galleries.  The  latter 
are  in  the  Pitti  Palace,  built  in  the  fifteenth  century 
for  Luca  Pitti,  one  of  the  bitter  enemies  of  the 
Medici.  Pitti  boasted  that  he  would  have  the  finest 
house  of  any  private  citizen  of  Florence,  but  it  was 
not  many  years  before  misfortunes  fell  upon  him 
and  a  century  later  the  palace  passed  into  the  hands 
of  the  wife  of  Cosimo  I.  The  long  gallery  which 
you  walk  through  on  the  way  from  the  Uflizi  to 
the  Pitti  Palace  is  lined  with  portraits  of  the  Popes 

[8.] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
and  of  many  other  famous  people,  many  of  them 
hung  in  such  dark  places  that  they  cannot  be  seen 
even  on  sunshiny  days.  The  Pitti  gallery  has  a 
dozen  of  Raphael's  works,  among  which  the  finest 
are  two  Madonnas,  the  portraits  of  Leo  X  and  Julius 
II,  and  the  pidure  of  the  painter's  sweetheart, 
whom  tradition  has  incorredlly  represented  as  a 
baker's  daughter.  The  face  of  this  woman  shows 
rare  refinement  and  charm. 

Titian  is  represented  here  by  more  than  a  half- 
dozen  masterpieces.  The  finest  is  the  heads  of 
three  musicians,  called  "The  Concert,"  which  has 
been  reproduced  in  many  ways  but  which  gives 
one  fresh  delight  when  seen  in  the  colors  that  the 
master  used.  It  is  usually  attributed  to  Giorgione, 
but  the  ablest  critics  assign  it  to  Titian.  Other 
great  pictures  by  Titian  are  "The  Magadalen," 
"The  Bella"  and  portraits  of  Ippolito  de  Medici 
and  of  a  young  Englishman,  supposed  to  be  Thomas 
Howard,  third  Duke  of  Norfolk.  The  latter  is  a 
splendid  canvas,  the  dark,  refined  face  standing  out 
as  though  alive.  Here  also  are  masterpieces  by 
Perugino,  Velasquez,  Tintoretto,  Rembrandt,  Van 
Dyck,  Rubens  and  Botticelli.  The  eye  soon  tires 
of  this  wealth  of  color  and  it  requires  several  visits 
to  get  these  pidlures  properly  placed  in  the  memory. 

Another  pidture  gallery  which  is  worth  some 
study  is  the  Accademia  di  Belli  Arti.  It  has  a  col- 
ledion  of  pictures  of  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries  which  give  admirable  material 
for  the  study  of  the  development  of  Florentine  art. 
Here  are  seen  fine  specimens  of  the  work  of  Fra 
Angelico,  Filippo  Lippi,  Botticelli  and  Ghirlandajo. 
The  most  celebrated  picture  in  the  collection  is 
Botticelli's  "Spring,"  so  familiar  from  countless  re- 
productions of  "Mercury"  and  the  "Three  Graces". 

[82] 


Florence  and  Its  Art  Treasures 
Of  statuary  the  finest  thing  is  the  original  of  Michel- 
angelo's "David."  This  was  carved  from  a  block, 
of  marble  that  had  been  spoiled.  For  over  three 
hundred  and  fifty  years  this  great  statue  stood  in 
front  of  the  Palazzo  Vecchio;  then  in  1873  ^^  ^^^ 
removed  to  this  gallery  and  a  copy  was  substituted. 
It  should  have  been  allowed  to  stay  near  the  other 
masterpieces  of  sculpture  out  in  the  open. 

Another  great  piece  of  Michelangelo's  work 
may  be  seen  in  the  tombs  that  he  carved  for  the 
Medicis  in  the  New  Sacristry  of  San  Lorenzo  Cathe- 
dral. Under  the  figure  of  Giuliano  de  Medici  the 
sculptor  carved  two  figures  which  are  called  Day 
and  Night;  under  the  thoughtful  figure  of  Lorenzo 
he  wrought  two  figures  known  as  Twilight  and 
Dawn.  All  these  figures  are  very  beautiful,  but 
they  depress  you,  for  in  them  you  seem  to  see  the 
famous  sculptor's  idea  that  it  was  useless  to  struggle 
against  fate.  An  ardent  lover  of  liberty,  he  was 
forced  to  carve  these  memorials  to  the  men  who 
deprived  his  favorite  city  of  its  freedom.  In  the 
old  Franciscan  Church  of  Santa  Croce  may  be 
found  Vasari's  monument  to  Michelangelo,  with 
a  bust  by  Lorenzi  which  shows  how  the  sculptor's 
nose  was  refined  bv  age  and  suffering.  Here  also 
are  the  tombs  of  Alfieri  the  poet,  and  of  Macchia- 
velH  whose  name  is  a  synonym  for  duplicity. 

Florence  is  so  rich  in  memorials  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  that  one  comes  upon  them  at  every 
turn.  The  city  is  rich  also  in  beautiful  suburbs,  the 
finest  of  which  is  Fiesole,  from  which  a  splendid 
view  may  be  gained  of  the  city,  the  Arno  and  the 
surrounding  country.  Many  days  may  be  spent 
with  pleasure  and  profit  in  Florence,  which  shares 
with  Rome  the  power  of  appealing  to  any  lover  of 
history,  art  or  beauty  in  nature. 

[83] 


Venice, 

City  of  Romance 

AND  Beauty 


THE  charm  of  Venice  lies  In  Its  unlikeness  to 
any  other  place.  You  may  have  read  of  its 
canals  and  its  lagoons,  its  palaces  and  its 
prisons,  its  gondolas  that  glide  mysteriously  through 
dark  stretches  of  glassy  water,  but  the  reality  comes 
upon  you  with  unexpedled  force.  My  arrival  was 
at  night  and  my  introdudion  to  the  Grand  Canal 
and  the  smaller  canals  was  made  on  the  way  from 
the  railroad  station  to  the  hotel.  It  was  a  half  hour's 
ride  in  a  gondola  and  it  was  a  fitting  prelude  to  six 
days  of  sight-seeing  in  this  curious  old  city  of  the 
Adriatic.  The  gondola  was  black;  the  waters  of  the 
canal  were  inky  black;  the  only  sign  of  life  was  the 
splashing  of  the  paddles  of  the  gondoliers  and  their 
cries  as  they  approached  a  sharp  turn  in  the  canal. 
High  on  each  side  towered  houses,  also  black  as 
night.  An  occasional  light  on  an  Iron  cresset  cast  its 
rays  far  over  the  oily  water. 

Soon  we  passed  from  a  side  canal  into  the  Grand 
Canal,  whose  borders  were  marked  by  a  series  of 
lights  at  the  doorways  of  the  palaces.  Romance  and 
mystery  brooded  over  this  expanse  of  water  which 
had  seen  in  the  heyday  of  Venice  some  magnificent 
pageants,  such  as  the  annual  wedding  of  the  city  to 
the  Adriatic.  As  the  gondola  neared  the  brilliantly 
lighted  platform  in  front  of  the  hotel,  the  deep  tones 
of  a  great  bell  sounded  ten  o'clock,  and  a  number 

[84] 


Venice,  Crrv  ok  Romance  and  Beauty 

of  sinuller  bells  repeated  the  strokes.  Then  silence 
fell  iigiiin,  broken  only  by  the  occasional  hoarse 
warning  ot  a  gondolier. 

rhe  modern  hotel  in  Venice  has  a  fierce  struggle 
with  its  sixteenth  century  environment.  All  tiie 
hotels  are  located  in  ancient  palaces,  many  of  them 
fronting  on  the  Grand  Canal.  'I'he  eledric  light  and 
running  water  have  been  introduced,  but  this  is  as 
far  as  modernization  has  gone.  No  attempt  has 
been  made  to  clean  up  the  fronts  of  these  old  pal- 
aces, many  of  which  are  blackened  by  the  salt  sea 
winds.  The  rooms  are  huge,  the  halls  vast,  the  mod- 
ern landlord  mourns  over  the  waste  of  good  rentable 
space  devoted  to  spacious  reception  rooms  and  hall- 
ways. The  result  is  that  you  seem  to  be  dwelling 
in  a  baronial  castle  on  some  enchanted  island,  and 
this  illusion  is  emphasized  by  the  lapping  of  the 
waters  of  the  Grand  Canal  under  your  window. 

In  the  morning  when  you  look  out  the  first 
thing  that  meets  your  gaze  is  the  long  reach  of  the 
Grand  Canal;  near  by  is  the  golden  ball  over  the 
Custom-house  and  the  beautiful  lines  of  the  Church 
of  Santa  Maria  della  Salute.  Down  thecanal  stretch 
two  rows  of  palaces,  their  fronts  gleaming  in  the 
sunlight.  The  canal  is  full  of  gondolas,  which  are 
tossed  about  like  corks  by  the  wash  of  a  passing 
ferry-boat.  In  the  harbor,  beyond  the  Custom- 
house, are  several  ocean  steamers.  Everything  looks 
bright  and  clear  and  the  longing  comes  upon  you 
to  get  out  upon  the  canal  and  make  the  acquaint- 
ance of  Venice  near  at  hand. 

The  Venetian  gondolier  used  to  dress  in  fancy 
costume,  with  a  brilliant  red  sash;  now  he  wears 
ready-made  clothes  and  a  sweater.  But  he  hasn't 
forgotten  the  gay  spirits  of  his  ancestors.  He  sings 
at  his  work  and  he  calls  out  for  your  edification  the 

[85] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

names  of  the  palaces  as  you  go  by.  Venetian  archi- 
tedlure  always  appealed  to  me  in  photographs  and 
the  reality  was  not  disappointing.  The  massing  of 
the  Gothic  windows  in  many  of  these  palaces  is 
singularly  attractive;  while  the  richly  ornamented 
doorways  furnish  a  constant  source  of  pleasure  to 
the  eye.  My  hotel,  built  in  the  pointed  style  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  was  formerly  the  Palazzo  Giusti- 
niani.  Chateaubriand  and  Ruskin  lived  at  this  hotel 
many  years  ago,  and  just  before  her  death  George 
Eliot  spent  several  weeks  here.  In  one  of  the  front 
rooms  Verdi  was  inspired  by  a  terrible  storm,  which 
swept  across  the  lagoon  and  thundered  against  the 
house,  to  write  the  fourth  a6t  of  "Riggoletto." 
Here  also  Wagner  wrote  parts  of  "Tristan  and 
Isolde." 

Going  down  the  Grand  Canal,  among  the  note- 
worthy houses  are  the  Palazzo  Contarini-Fasan, 
"the  House  of  Desdamona,"  a  small  three-story 
structure  with  a  highly  ornamental  front;  the  Palazzo 
Rezzonico,  a  magnificent  building  in  which  Robert 
Browning  died;  the  two  Palazzos  Giustiniani,in  one 
of  which  Ho  wells  wrote  his  Venetian  Life,  and  in 
the  other  Wagner  wrote  the  fourth  ad:  of  "Tristan 
and  Isolde;"  the  Palazzo  Mocenigo, the  home  of 
Lord  Byron  in  1815;  the  Palazzo  Grimani,  the  fin- 
est Renaissance  building  on  the  canal,  now  occupied 
by  the  Court  of  Appeals;  the  Palazzo  Manin,  the 
home  of  the  last  Doge  of  Venice,  now  the  Bank  of 
Italy;  the  Ca  d'Oro,  or  Golden  House,  the  hand- 
somest palace  on  the  canal,  with  a  double  set  of 
Gothic  windows,  and  the  Signory's  Palace,  now  con- 
verted into  a  hotel,  once  the  abode  of  George  Sand 
and  Alfred  de  Musset  during  that  tour  which  began 
so  auspiciously  and  ended  so  tempestuously  in  bitter 
quarrels  and  two  books  of  biting  satire. 

[86] 


Venice,  City  of  Romance  and  Beauty 

Many  of  these  palaces  are  built  of  white  marble, 
which  is  blackened  in  places  by  the  sea  winds.  It  is 
singular  that  this  blackening  docs  not  follow  any 
regular  rule.  Sometimes  it  is  the  heavy  cornice  over 
the  door,  sometimes  the  spaces  under  the  window 
ledges,  but  frequently  a  black  stripe  extends  clear 
across  the  front  of  the  building.  Many  of  the  build- 
ings are  plastered  brick,  and  these  do  not  seem  to 
show  the  effedls  of  the  atmosphere  like  the  marble 
palaces.  The  favorite  color  is  a  rich  yellow.  These 
palaces  are  all  built  on  piles  and  the  walls  rise  di- 
redtly  from  the  water.  All  are  provided  with  im- 
posing entrances  and  fine  marble  stairs,  and  in  front 
of  most  of  them  wooden  poles  are  ereded  for  the 
protection  of  gondolas.  A  stately  life  the  ancient 
Venetians  led  in  these  great  palaces,  with  their  wide 
halls  and  spacious  rooms,  many  of  them  finely  orna- 
mented with  frescoes  on  the  walls  and  the  ceilings. 
The  Grand  Canal  is  spanned  by  three  bridges,  the 
most  picturesque  of  which  is  the  Bridge  of  the  Ri- 
alto,  with  small  shops  on  each  side  of  the  steps. 

The  heart  of  Venice  is  the  Square  of  St.  Mark, 
laid  out  in  the  old  days  like  the  Forum  of  Rome. 
At  one  end  is  St.  Mark's  Cathedral  and  the  Doge's 
Palace,  while  the  other  three  sides  are  filled  with 
the  two  palaces  of  the  nine  Procurators  and  the 
Atrio,  ereCted  in  1810.  These  three  buildings  are 
all  of  three  stories,  and  their  ground  floors  are  a 
series  of  arcades,  containing  shops  and  restaurants. 
The  square  is  paved  with  marble  and  in  front  of 
the  church  rises  the  great  Campanile,  three  hundred 
and  twenty-two  feet  in  height,  which  fell  to  the 
ground  in  1902,  but  which  is  now  restored  in  finer 
style.  Some  critics  have  declared  that  the  Campanile 
dwarfs  the  church  and  that  St.  Mark's  Square  would 
be  more  artistic  without  this  tower. 

[87] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

Entering  the  square  of  St.  Mark  by  one  of  the 
narrow  streets  the  effed  is  bewildering.  The  Cathe- 
dral looks  as  though  it  were  made  of  iridescent  shell, 
the  sunlight  bringing  out  new  shades  every  hour. 
Its  architediure  is  Byzantine,  with  domes  in  the 
center  and  at  the  end  of  each  arm  of  the  Greek 
cross  that  forms  the  body  of  the  edifice.  The  front 
is  richly  decorated  in  colors  and  gold  and  gorgeous 
mosaics,  and,  as  Ruskin  well  says,  its  effed  depends 
"on  its  color,  and  that  the  most  subtle,  variable,  in- 
expressible color  in  the  world—the  color  of  glass,  of 
transparent  alabaster,  of  polished  marble  and  lus- 
trous gold."  Over  the  main  door  are  the  four  horses 
in  gilded  bronze  which  once  surmounted  the  tri- 
umphal arch  of  Titus  in  Rome.  From  Rome  they 
were  taken  to  Constantinople  and  the  Venetians 
captured  them  with  that  city.  They  impressed  Na- 
poleon so  much  that  he  carried  them  to  Paris  to 
adorn  his  Arch  of  Triumph  but  after  his  downfall, 
the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  of  Austria  restored 
them  to  Venice. 

To  the  left  of  the  church  is  the  great  clock 
tower,  which  forms  the  last  building  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Piazza.  It  is  of  four  stories.  The  first 
is  an  arch,  supported  by  marble  pillars;  the  second 
is  the  big  blue  and  gold  dial;  the  third  is  made  up 
of  a  gilded  statue  of  the  Madonna,  and  the  fourth, 
which  is  really  a  tower,  presents  a  figure  of  a  doge 
kneeling  before  a  lion,  both  in  half  relief  against  a 
background  of  blue  with  golden  stars.  The  clock 
tower  is  surmounted  by  two  colossal  bronze  figures, 
the  "Two  Moors,"  which  strike  the  hours  with 
hammers  on  a  bronze  bell. 

It  is  impossible  in  a  few  words  to  give  any  idea 
of  the  richness  of  the  interior  of  St.  Mark's.  Mosa- 
ics, sculpture,  gilding  and  carved  ivory  are  lavished 

[88] 


Venice,  City  of  Romance  and  Beauty 

here  with  Oriental  magnificence.  The  high  altar  is 
ablaze  with  jewels  and  behind  it  is  a  second  altar 
with  four  spiral  columns  of  alabaster,  two  of  which 
are  translucent.  Tradition  says  that  these  columns 
came  dire(!;t  from  the  temple  of  Solomon. 

The  decoration  of  St.  Mark's  is  Byzantine  in 
color  and  richness;  the  pavement  is  formed  of  many 
colored  marble;  the  walls  are  incrustcd  with  precious 
stones  in  mosaic  of  the  most  intricate  patterns;  gold 
is  laid  on  with  a  lavish  hand.  Barbaric  is  the  only 
word  that  applies  to  this  decoration  which  is  in  such 
great  contrast  to  the  rich  but  more  chaste  decoration 
of  St.  Peter's  in  Rome.  But  it  must  be  borne  in 
mind  that  the  builders  of  St.  Mark's  and  the  many 
beautiful  homes  on  the  Grand  Canal  were  men  who 
for  years  had  had  intimate  relations  with  the  Orient. 
These  Venetian  Grandees  were  merchants  who 
knew  the  values  of  Oriental  gems  and  precious 
stones  as  well  as  though  they  lived  in  Colombo  or 
Bombay.  But  they  were  also  Italians  who  were 
profoundly  influenced  by  the  Gothic  spirit  as  well 
as  by  the  finest  models  of  Greek  sculpture  and 
architecture.  The  combination  produced  this  unique 
church  which  seems  to  differ  in  appearance  every 
time  one  sees  it.  I  liked  it  best  at  early  morning 
when  the  sunlight  from  the  lagoon  gave  it  the  tint 
of  a  great  seashell.  But  the  interior  may  be  seen 
best  at  high-noon  on  a  sunny  day  when  rifts  of 
light  through  the  openings  in  the  dome  brought  to 
view  brilliant  mosaics  glowing  with  the  wealth  of 
the  Indies.  The  great  curiosity  in  the  church  is 
the  Pala  d'Oro,  a  masterpiece  of  the  goldsmith's 
work,  once  studded  with  priceless  stones,  now  a 
mere  make-believe  with  paste  jewels. 

To  the  left  of  the  church   is  the   Palace  of  the 
Doges,  the   most  striking  building  in  Venice.    Its 

[89] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

efFedtive  feature  is  a  double  arcade  in  Gothic  style, 
which  extends  around  two  sides  of  the  building. 
The  capitals  of  the  columns  are  richly  decorated 
and  the  whole  effed:  of  the  facade  is  so  gorgeous 
that  it  does  not  suffer  by  contrast  with  the  Cathe- 
dral. The  entrance  to  the  Palace  is  by  the  golden 
stairs,  which  could  be  trod  only  by  those  whose 
names  were  inscribed  as  nobles  in  the  Golden  Book. 
On  the  upper  floor  are  the  great  rooms  in  which 
the  officials  of  the  Republic  held  their  meetings. 
Here  are  waiting-rooms,  the  Doge's  reception  room, 
the  meeting  place  of  the  Senate,  the  room  of  the 
Council  of  Ten,  the  chamber  of  the  Three  In- 
quisitors and  the  hall  of  the  Great  Council.  All 
these  rooms  have  magnificent  ceilings  and  their 
walls  are  adorned  with  masterpieces  by  Paolo  Vero- 
nese, Titian,  Tintoretto,  Bassano  and  other  artists. 

In  the  wall  of  one  of  these  rooms  in  the  Doge's 
Palace  may  be  seen  the  Lion's  Mouth,  in  which 
were  placed  written  accusations  against  any  member 
of  the  Republic.  The  old  lion's  head  on  the  out- 
side has  been  nearly  chiseled  away,  but  its  faint  out- 
lines may  be  made  out.  Going  down  a  flight  of 
stairs,  a  passageway  takes  you  out  upon  the  famous 
Bridge  of  Sighs  which  conneds  the  palace  with  the 
prisons  on  the  other  side  of  a  narrow  canal.  Senti- 
ment need  not  be  wasted  on  this  bridge,  however, 
as  it  was  never  used  by  any  of  the  famous  prisoners 
confined  here.  You  may  see  the  dark  dungeons 
and  the  chamber  where  prisoners  were  tortured, 
but  the  old  prisons  under  the  leaden  roof  of  the 
palace  have  been  destroyed. 

The  Doge's  Palace  is  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing buildings  in  the  world,  as  it  shows  the  magnifi- 
cence of  this  government  of  a  Republic  founded 
on  commerce.    The  Republic  was  a  republic  only 

[90] 


Venice,  City  of  Romance  and  Beauty 

in  name,  for  all  the  power  was  pra6lically   in   the 
hands  of  the  Council  of  Ten,  an  oligarchy  ot  nobles. 

Opposite  the  side  ot  the  palace  is  the  piazetta, 
which  is  bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Library,  a 
splendid  building  by  Sansovino,  consisting  of  a 
double  colonnade  with  arches  and  embedded  col- 
umns. At  the  south  end  near  the  lagoon  are  two 
granite  columns,  one  surmounted  by  the  winged 
lion  of  St.  Mark,  the  other  by  St.  Theodore,  patron 
saint  of  the  Republic,  standing  on  a  crocodile.  The 
Square  of  St.  Mark  in  the  heyday  of  the  Republic, 
was  the  chief  gathering  place  of  the  people.  Here 
from  the  great  door  of  the  palace  were  read  the  de- 
crees of  the  Council.  And  on  Palm  Sunday  pigeons 
were  sent  out  and  found  nests  in  adjacent  buildings. 

From  this  came  the  custom  of  proteding  pigeons 
in  this  square.  For  many  years  down  to  the  end  of 
the  Republic  the  state  cared  for  these  pigeons;  now 
they  are  kept  sleek  and  fat  by  the  tourists  and  the 
children  of  Venice,  who  buy  corn  and  peas  of  a 
privileged  vender.  One  of  the  pretty  sights  of 
Venice  is  a  flock  of  these  tame  pigeons  feeding  from 
the  hand  of  a  little  child. 

The  Venetians  seem  to  have  an  abundance  of 
leisure.  At  noon  and  again  between  five  and  six 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the  open-air  cafes  that  line 
the  Square  of  St.  Mark  are  crowded  with  people 
drinking  cofl^ee  and  liqueurs  and  eating  cakes.  In 
the  afternoon  the  military  band  plays  on  several 
days  and  the  crowd  promenades  up  and  down  the 
square.  With  the  sunlight  gleaming  on  the  gold 
and  colors  of  St.  Mark,  with  the  pigeons  wheeling 
in  the  air,  with  the  stirring  music  of  the  band  and 
with  the  laughter  and  gay  talk  of  the  merry  crowds, 
this  square  presents  a  spectacle  that  can  be  matched 
in  few  cities  of  the  world. 

[9-] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

Venice  is  rich  in  art  colledtions,  but  it  must  suf- 
fice here  to  glance  at  only  a  few  of  the  best  pictures 
by  the  great  masters.  The  most  famous  painting  in 
the  Academy  is  the  "Assumption  of  the  Virgin,"  by 
Titian,  which  reminds  one  of  Raphael's  "Transfig- 
uration" in  the  beauty  of  its  composition  and  the 
splendor  of  its  coloring.  In  the  same  room  is  Tin- 
toretto's "St.  Mark  Rescuing  a  Slave"  and  Paul 
Veronese's  "Madonna  Enthroned  With  Saints"— 
two  masterpieces.  Other  noteworthy  pidlures  are 
"Jesus  in  the  House  of  Levi,"  by  Paul  Veronese, 
and  Tintoretto's  "Descent  From  the  Cross." 

A  score  of  churches  in  Venice  will  richly  repay 
the  tourist  who  visits  them.  Among  these  the  finest 
is  the  Frari,  a  Gothic  church  built  in  the  early 
part  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It  contains  a  fine 
monument  to  Titian,  and  an  altar  piece  by  Titian, 
which  some  critics  regard  as  superior  to  the  "As- 
sumption." The  Church  of  Santa  Maria  della 
Salute  is  noteworthy  for  its  perfedt  dome  and  its  pic- 
tures by  Titian.  Santi  Giovanni  e  Paulo,  in  the 
Italian  Gothic  style,  contains  the  tombs  of  the 
Doges;  Santa  Maria  dei  Gesuiti  is  lined  with  marble 
inlaid  with  verd  antique  and  it  possesses  an  altar 
piece  by  Tintoretto  and  a  fine  Titian. 

The  best  statue  in  Venice  is  the  bronze  eques- 
trian statue  of  Bartolomeo  Colleoni,  a  famous  Gen- 
eral of  the  Republic.  It  was  modeled  by  Verrocchio, 
the  teacher  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  and  it  fully  justi- 
fies Ruskin's  high  praise.  The  soldier  sits  his  horse 
in  splendid  fashion  and  the  whole  figure  gives  the 
impression  of  a  fighter  and  a  leader  of  men. 

Venice  in  its  history,  its  art  and  its  architecture 
is  unique,  while  its  miles  of  canals,  its  ancient  houses 
and  its  pi61:uresque  bridges  furnish  material  that  is 
the  despair  of  the  artist. 

[92] 


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3      3 


PLATE    XXV 

The  Great  Cypresses  in  the  Villa  d'Este,  Near  Tivoli,  Planted 

in  the  Same  Year  That  Columbus  Discovered  America.     The  Villa 

Was  Built  by  Cardinal  Ippoiito  d'Este,  Whose 

Mother  Was  Lucrezia  Borgia 


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n    3 


PLATE   XXXII 

The  Historic  Bridge  of  Sighs,  Connefting  the  Palace  of  the 

Doges  in  Venice  With  the  Prison  Across  the  Rio  Canal.     Over  this 

Bridge  Prisoners  Condemned  by  the  Council  of  Ten  Were 

Taken  to  the  Terrible  Dungeons  of  the  Prison 


FRANCE,  LAND  OF 

ROMANCE,  THRIFT  AND 

ARTISTIC  LIFE 


Monte  Carlo  and 

Its  Gilded  Gambling 

Palace 


To  escape  the  severe  cold  which  held  fast  in 
ice  all  the  country  north  of  the  Alps,  1 
crossed  Northern  Italy  and  journeyed  to 
France  by  way  of  the  Riviera.  The  ride  from 
Venice  to  Genoa  was  tedious,  although  it  was  over 
historic  ground,  and  for  part  of  the  way  was  in  sight 
of  the  snow-crowned  Alps. 

This  railroad  ride  across  Northern  Italy  takes 
one  through  Vicenza,  Verona,  Brescia,  and  Milan. 
The  long  ride  is  relieved  by  exquisite  views  ot  the 
snow-clad  Alps  and  of  the  string  of  Italian  lakes, 
that  are  counted  among  the  loveliest  in  all  Europe. 
The  night  ride  from  Milan  to  Genoa  was  tiresome, 
but  the  sight  of  Genoa  in  the  morning  was  one  long 
to  be  remembered. 

This  ancient  city  which  boasts  that  it  was  the 
birthplace  of  Columbus,  is  essentially  a  seaport,  with 
a  great  mingling  of  races  on  its  picturesque  water- 
front. Its  palaces  of  sixteenth  century  noblemen 
are  among  the  finest  in  Italy  and  it  also  has  many 
interesting  relics  of  the  discovery  of  America.  The 
Palazzo  Doria  is  the  most  magnificent  of  the  build- 
ings reared  to  commemorate  the  glories  of  ancient 
families,  and  it  stands  as  a  monument  to  Andrea 
Doria,  who  established  the  supremacy  of  Genoa. 

From  Genoa  to  Nice  the  railroad  ride  gives  one 
a  succession  of  views  of  the    Italian   and    French 


[95] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

Riviera.  The  coast  line  is  constantly  cut  by  bold 
headlands,  and  the  villages  are  perched  on  rocky 
crags.  With  their  stuccoed  walls  and  red-tiled  roofs, 
the  villas  of  wealthy  foreigners  give  the  whole  coast 
the  look  of  the  background  of  a  comic  opera.  There 
is  a  constant  succession  of  tunnels,  but  as  the  train 
shoots  out  of  one  to  enter  another,  the  eye  is  caught 
by  lovely  glimpses  of  flashing  blue  sea  and  clear 
blue  sky.  The  air  is  warm  and  still,  for  here  we  are 
under  the  shelter  of  the  Maritime  Alps  where  the 
cold  winds  from  the  north  cannot  reach.  The  train 
passes  through  Savona,  Oneglia,  San  Remo,  Venti- 
miglia,  Mentone  and  Monte  Carlo  to  Nice. 

Nice  is  the  favorite  pleasure  ground  for  all 
Europe,  but  here,  as  in  Egypt,  the  English  and 
Americans  outnumber  all  other  foreigners.  The 
place  lies  well  on  a  small  bay  and  the  main  avenue 
along  the  waterfront  is  called  the  Boulevard  des 
Anglais.  Here  is  a  broad  esplanade  always  crowded 
by  strangers,  while  the  roadway  is  choked  with  two 
streams  of  carriages  and  motor  cars.  The  ladies 
make  a  brave  show  of  furs  and  diamonds  and  the 
atmosphere  is  redolent  of  wealth  and  fashion.  On 
the  seaside  is  a  great  casino,  while  on  the  other  is 
an  unbroken  line  of  palatial  hotels  and  private  villas. 

With  its  rows  of  shade  trees  and  palms  this  is 
a  magnificent  avenue,,  It  was  originally  begun  by 
English  residents  and  visitors  in  1822  to  furnish 
work  to  the  unemployed.  Nice  was  the  birthplace 
of  Garibaldi  and  of  Massena,  one  of  the  ablest  of 
Napoleon's  marshals,  and  there  are  noble  statues  of 
both.  It  is  a  pleasure  city  pure  and  simple,  and 
many  excursions  may  be  made  to  places  of  interest 
in  the  vicinity.  Among  these  the  most  famous  is 
Monte  Carlo,  which  may  be  reached  by  a  short  ride 
on  the  steam  cars  or  by  the  pleasanter  eledlric  railway. 

[96] 


Monte  Carlo  and  Gambling  Palace 
Monte  Carlo  is  probably  the  best-known  place 
in  Europe,  and  few  tourists  fail  to  try  their  luck  at 
the  roulette  tables.  It  is  this  extraordinary  adver- 
tising which  has  made  the  Casino  so  enormously 
profitable.  The  principality  of  Monaco,  when  it  tell 
to  Prince  Albert  of  the  old  family  of  Grimaldi 
about  forty  years  ago,  scarcely  yielded  revenue 
enough  to  maintain  him;  but  the  shrewd  scheme  of 
establishing  a  great  gambling  resort  at  this  prettiest 
spot  on  the  Riviera  has  made  him  a  multi-million- 
aire. For  years  he  has  drawn  a  huge  revenue  from 
the  gambling  company  which  runs  the  Casino.  A 
few  years  ago  he  had  the  stirrings  of  ambition  to  be 
known  as  something  beside  the  owner  ot  the  great- 
est gambling  house  in  the  world.  So  he  took  up 
the  study  of  oceanography,  and  in  a  few  years  he 
has  become  known  as  the  largest  contributor  to  the 
world's  knowledge  of  the  creatures  that  dwell  in  the 
deep  sea.  He  has  built  a  large  museum  near  the 
Casino,  to  which  he  is  constantly  adding  new  speci- 
mens of  marine  life.  This  may  be  nothing  more 
than  a  fad,  but  it  certainly  puts  illicit  gains  to  better 
use  than  pouring  them  into  the  greedy  hands  of  the 
courtezans  of  Paris. 

The  Prince  receives  about  six  hundred  thousand 
dollars  a  year  for  the  gambling  concession  and  it  is 
reported  about  as  much  more  from  customs'  receipts 
and  taxes  on  business.  He  also  draws  a  large  rev- 
enue from  the  half  franc  or  ten  cent  tax  on  those 
who  stay  longer  than  fifteen  days  in  the  principality. 
The  Prince  is  a  thrifty  soul  and  he  has  a  son  and 
heir  who  also  has  a  keen  eye  to  the  main  chance. 
This  son.  Prince  Louis,  had  a  daughter  by  a  pro- 
fessional beauty  of  Paris,  and  this  girl  he  utilized 
several  years  ago  to  increase  his  allowance  from  his 
father.    The  old  man  became  very  fond  of  the  girl, 

[97] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

so  Prince  Louis  devised  the  abdu6lion  of  the  child 
from  her  grandfather's  home  in  Paris  and  held  her 
as  a  hostage.  He  demanded  that  she  be  given  a 
legal  name  and  title,  and  that  he  himself  be  granted 
an  allowance  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  a  year,  with 
payment  of  all  his  debts.  The  old  Prince  yielded 
and  thus  recovered  his  favorite. 

To  secure  admittance  to  the  Casino,  one  applies 
to  an  official  near  the  entrance.  He  takes  your 
name,  nationality,  residence,  occupation,  and  your 
request,  either  for  a  single  admission,  or  for  a  pass 
for  a  fortnight.  A  longer  stay  than  two  weeks  sub- 
je6ls  one  to  a  trifling  payment  as  a  residence  tax. 
After  checking  hat  and  overcoat,  you  present  your 
admission  slip  and  the  guard  allows  you  to  enter 
the  main  hall.  From  this  hall  opens  a  suite  of  three 
magnificently  decorated  rooms,  with  many  mirrors 
and  paintings,  and  with  lofty  ceilings,  in  the  center 
of  which  are  the  tables  for  roulette  and  baccarat. 

The  pidures  are  not  particularly  good,  the  most 
striking  being  a  huge  canvas  filling  one  side  of  the 
first  room,  and  supposed  to  portray  "The  Three 
Graces."  Some  caustic  critic  of  Prince  Albert's  taste 
in  art  dubbed  this  "The  Three  Disgraces"  and  the 
name  has  stuck.  No  one  now  refers  to  it  in  any 
other  way.  It  has  the  suggestiveness  of  some  of 
Bouguereau's  nudes,  and  the  more  one  sees  of  it  the 
less  he  likes  it.  It  seems,  however,  to  form  a  fitting 
background  to  the  people  usually  seen  around  the 
roulette  tables. 

More  than  half  of  these  patrons  are  evidently 
professional  gamblers,  who  take  no  heed  of  the 
crowd  that  comes  and  goes.  Their  whole  attention 
is  fixed  upon  the  play  on  this  green  board,  with  its 
parallelogram  on  which  a  lucky  play  may  yield  a 
small  fortune.    At  each   table  are  three  attendants 

[98] 


MoiNTE  Carlo  and  Gambling  Palace 

who  furnish  silver  change  tor  gold.  One  is  the 
croupier,  who  announces  when  the  play  is  to  be 
made  and  who  pays  the  winnings.  He  also  spins 
the  marble  ball  which  flies  around  the  roulette  wheel 
and  finally  settles  into  one  of  the  numbered  spaces. 
No  stake  is  accepted  under  five  trancs  or  one  dollar. 

Every  seat  at  the  roulette  tables  is  occupied  and 
there  is  a  fringe  of  standing  spectators  and  players 
from  two  to  three  deep.  Each  of  the  seated  players 
has  his  fund  of  money  in  front  of  him.  In  most 
cases  this  is  about  evenly  divided  between  gold  and 
silver.  About  half  the  gamblers  at  the  tables  are 
women.  The  faces  of  these  people  are  not  pleasant. 
Of  those  at  one  table  that  I  studied  closely,  only 
one  had  a  fresh,  unspoiled  face.  This  was  a  richly 
dressed  young  woman,  who  looked  to  me  as  though 
she  had  set  out  to  wager  a  certain  amount  of  money 
for  the  mere  sport  of  the  game.  She  had  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  in  gold  and  silver  in 
front  of  her  and  she  was  gradually  adding  to  this 
heap  by  very  carefully  considered  plays.  She  occa- 
sionally consulted  a  small  note  book  and  was  evi- 
dently playing  upon  some  system. 

The  others  all  had  hard  faces,  deeply  lined,  and 
showing  the  same  marks  of  mental  strain  that  may 
be  seen  in  the  faces  of  automobile  racing  drivers. 
These  lines,  fixed  by  greed  or  envy  or  disappoint- 
ment, could  never  be  smoothed  out  in  this  world, 
for  one  felt  in  looking  at  these  people  that  they 
would  never  give  up  this  game.  As  well  expedl  the 
poor  dweller  in  a  big  city  to  leave  the  spedlacle  of 
blazing  eledric  lights  and  the  intoxication  of  huge 
crowds  for  the  quiet  and  peace  of  the  country. 

Three  at  this  table  were  old  women,  with  faces 
so  repulsive  that  one  did  not  need  to  be  told  that 
life  meant  to  them  onlv  the  hope  of  winning  a  great 

[99] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

stake,  the  desire  to  figure  for  a  few  moments  as  the 
envied  one  whose  play  had  brought  in  thousands  of 
francs.  Their  hands  trembled,  and  you  could  see 
the  gambler's  passion  in  every  movement.  The 
men  did  not  seem  so  much  under  the  influence  of 
the  dominant  passion  as  the  women,  but  two  who 
had  evidently  had  hard  luck,  wore  looks  of  great 
depression.  One  of  these  men  had  a  small  sheet  of 
paper  covered  with  calculations,  but  although  he 
studied  it  carefully  and  played  with  great  deliber- 
ation, he  lost  with  monotonous  regularity,  while  a 
man  standing  behind  him,  who  played  in  a  reckless 
way,  won  steadily.  A  venomous  gleam  of  envy  shot 
out  of  the  losing  man's  eyes  as  he  saw  this  careless 
gambler  rake  in  coin  that  he  was  trying  so  desper- 
ately to  win. 

In  walking  about  the  rooms  I  saw  only  one  sign 
of  the  tragedy  that  is  always  so  near  the  surface  of 
this  gambling  mania.  Two  women  were  seated  on 
a  divan  in  the  corner  of  one  of  the  roulette  rooms. 
The  elder  was  trying  to  comfort  her  companion, 
who  was  weeping  bitterly.  Suddenly  at  some  word 
from  her  friend,  the  weeping  woman  threw  up  her 
hands  with  a  gesture  that  said  as  plainly  as  words 
that  she  had  lost  everything. 

For  such  as  those  who  ruin  themselves  and 
have  not  enough  money  to  return  to  their  homes, 
the  Casino  authorities  provide  what  is  called  a  viat- 
icum, or  passage  money  which  the  loser  is  expected 
to  repay.  The  coin  is  not  paid  over,  but  a  railroad 
ticket  is  purchased  and  the  vidim  is  escorted  to  the 
train  and  seen  to  leave  Monte  Carlo.  The  names 
and  addresses  of  these  people  who  apply  for  this 
fund  are  taken,  and  should  they  fail  to  repay  the 
loan,  as  is  usually  the  case,  they  can  never  gain  ad- 
mittance to  the  Casino  again. 

[loo] 


Monte  Carlo  and  Gambling  Palace 

Many  stories  are  told  of  the  suicides  at  Monte 
Carlo,  which  are  carefully  concealed  by  the  Casino 
authorities,  but  these  tales  are  figments  of  the  imagi- 
nation. It  is  often  reported  that  a  gambler  who 
takes  his  life  on  the  grounds  is  hurried  out  of  the 
principality  and  buried  as  an  unknown  in  a  potter's 
field  maintained  by  the  Casino;  but  there  is  no 
proof  of  the  truth  of  these  tales.  In  fad,  everything 
shows  that  they  are  apocryphal,  for  there  are  too 
many  strangers  always  in  Monte  Carlo  to  make  it 
possible  to  dispose  of  bodies  secretly  in  this  way. 
The  man  who  loses  everything  at  the  roulette  table 
is  carefully  watched  and  is  not  allowed  to  make  a 
scene  or  to  take  his  own  lite. 

The  long  ride  from  Nice  to  Paris  may  be  made 
in  fourteen  hours  by  the  train  de  luxe,  which  carries 
a  good  dining-car,  but  the  American  tourist  should 
see  to  it  that  he  is  near  this  car  when  the  manager 
goes  through  the  train  to  deliver  slips  for  seats  at 
the  tables.  If  you  happen  to  be  in  the  last  car  you 
will  find  that  all  the  tickets  for  these  first  two  tables 
have  been  taken,  and  that  you  will  have  to  wait  for 
the  third  table,  a  matter  of  two  hours'  delay,  as 
everyone  must  finish  and  the  tables  be  cleared  be- 
fore a  new  lot  of  patrons  is  admitted. 

This  ride,  which  is  by  way  of  Lyons,  the  third 
city  in  size  and  importance  in  France,  gives  one  a 
good  idea  of  rural  France.  There  is  little  woodland, 
every  acre  seeming  to  be  carefully  cultivated.  Es- 
pecially pifturesque  are  the  vineyards  and  orchards, 
with  vines  and  fruit  trees  trained  on  trellises  in 
many  artistic  designs.  Lyons  at  the  jundion  of  the 
Rhone  and  the  Saone,  handles  half  the  silk  pro- 
duced by  the  world.  It  has  noble  quays  and  fine 
public  buildings.  Among  famous  men  born  in  Lyons 
were  Meissonier  and  Puvis  de  Chavannes. 

[,oi] 


Paris,  THE 
City  of  Magnificent 

Vistas 

PARIS  is  a  city  of  surprises  and  disappoint- 
ments. As  a  place  of  magnificent  vistas  it  sur- 
passes one's  conceptions;  but  its  buildings  and 
its  statuary  disappoint  the  tourist  fresh  from  Italy. 
Its  shops,  which  were  once  the  wonder  of  Europe, 
are  now  easily  surpassed  in  artistic  quality  by  the 
shops  of  second-rate  cities  like  Rome  and  Naples. 
Its  gayety  and  brightness  it  has  not  lost,  nor  its 
fondness  for  the  outdoor  life  of  the  cafes  and  boule- 
vards and  great  public  parks. 

The  first  thing  that  strikes  the  tourist  in  Paris 
is  the  art  with  which  the  place  has  been  converted 
into  a  city  of  magnificent  vistas.  On  one  side  of 
the  Seine  a  series  of  fine  quays,  with  many  statues 
and  beautiful  approaches  to  bridges,  gives  an  asped 
of  spaciousness.  On  the  other  side  a  succession  of 
open  squares  linked  together  with  magnificent  tree- 
lined  boulevards  charms  the  eye.  On  the^  left 
bank  are  the  Eiffel  Tower,  the  Trocadero,the  gilded 
dome  of  the  Invalides,  the  fine  towers  of  Notre 
Dame  and  the  huge  crown  of  the  Pantheon.  On  the 
right  bank  are  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  and  the  Champs- 
Elysees,  with  the  two  arches  of  triumph,  the  Tuil- 
eries  and  the  Obelisk,  the  Column  of  July  and  the 
great  mass  of  the  Louvre.  On  the  left  bank  the 
quays  will  average  twenty  feet  in  width;  on  the  right 
bank  the  gardens  of  the  Tuileries  are  fully  fifteen 

[102] 


Paris,  THE  City  of  Magnificent  Vistas 
hundred  feet  wide,  while  the  Champs-EIysees  and 
the  Bois  de  Boulogne  are  noble  avenues,  Hanked  by 
triple  rows  ot  trees  on  each  side. 

The  avenues  are  mainly  paved  witii  wooden 
blocks  set  upon  a  solid  bed  of  concrete.  They  are 
kept  beautituUy  clean  by  a  small  army  of  street 
sweepers,  who  flush  the  gutters  on  each  side  and  use 
large  brooms  tor  collecting  any  refuse.  In  the  Tuil- 
eries,  the  Place  de  Carrousel  and  the  Place  de  la 
Concorde  are  tine  fountains.  Everywhere  are  statues 
and  monuments,  not  so  impressive  as  those  in 
Rome  or  Florence,  but  far  superior  to  any  work  in 
American  cities,  save  a  few  statues  that  may  be 
counted  on  the  fingers  of  one  hand. 

Nothing  in  Paris  is  so  tine  as  the  new  monument 
to  Vic^tor  Emmanuel  in  Rome,  nor  are  there  any 
fountains  in  the  French  capital  that  equal  the  Foun- 
tain of  the  Trevi  or  the  Fountain  of  the  Nymphs 
in  the  old  city  of  the  Caesars. 

What  impresses  one  in  Paris  is  the  reverent 
care  with  which  the  name  and  the  work  of  French 
men  of  genius  are  commemorated.  It  is  common 
in  America  to  tind  the  names  of  statesmen  and  sol- 
diers given  to  the  streets  of  cities,  but  here  in  Paris 
scores  of  streets  bear  the  names  of  authors,  play- 
rights,  painters  and  sculptors.  Here  we  have  the 
Avenue  Vi^lor  Hugo,  the  street  of  Balzac,  even  the 
street  of  Zola.  Over  one  hundred  monuments  have 
been  reared  to  the  memory  of  patriots,  authors, 
artists  and  musicians.  Manv  of  these  statues  bear  on 
their  bases  significant  words  which  keep  alive  the 
virtues  and  the  wisdom  of  these  great  men  whom 
Paris  loves  to  honor. 

The  history  of  the  French  Revolution  mav  be 
learned  from  the  epitaphs  on  the  statues  of  the  men 
who  gave  their  lives  that  the  people   might  enjoy 

[103] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
liberty.  Thus  on  the  base  of  the  statue  of  Danton, 
one  of  the  greatest  of  the  revolutionists,  are  these 
noble  words:  "After  bread,  the  chief  need  of  the 
people  is  education."  Everywhere  may  be  seen  the 
care  taken  to  preserve  old  relics  and  to  perpetuate 
history  by  placing  tablets  on  the  walls  of  historic 
houses.  In  a  vacant  space  by  the  side  of  the  ancient 
Church  of  St.  Germain-des-Pres  may  be  found  sev- 
eral arcades  from  the  old  chapter-house  of  the  abbey 
and  other  Gothic  sculptures.  Scores  of  bits  from 
the  facades  of  ancient  historic  houses  may  be  found 
inserted  in  the  fronts  of  modern  strudures.  Memo- 
rial tablets  commemorate  the  fa6t  that  statesmen  or 
writers  lived  in  the  houses  which  they  adorn. 

The  Seine  is  one  of  the  most  important  features 
in  every  general  view  of  Paris.  Seen  from  any  ele- 
vation, like  the  Eiffel  Tower,  the  Seine  winds 
through  Paris  like  a  great  python.  The  river  is 
spanned  by  many  bridges  and  is  bordered  on  one 
side  by  spacious  quays  and  on  the  other  by  beauti- 
ful parks.  Ferry  steamers  ply  up  and  down  and 
the  river  is  also  alive  with  tugs  and  other  small 
craft.  The  quays  are  walled  with  massive  masonry. 
Everything  is  as  though  it  were  built  to  endure 
forever. 

Viewed  from  any  height,  Paris  looks  like  a  toy 
model  of  a  city.  Each  block  of  houses  is  complete 
and  fills  the  whole  space  between  the  four  streets; 
but  in  each  large  house  is  an  air  well  varying  in  size 
with  the  size  of  the  building.  Looking  down  upon 
the  city,  these  blocks  of  brick  and  stone  buildings, 
with  their  red-tiled  roofs  in  Mansard  form,  stand 
out  in  high  relief  against  the  well-paved,  cleanly 
swept  streets  and  avenues.  For  above  all  things 
Paris  is  a  clean  city.  Its  gutters  are  flushed  every 
morning  and  its  main  thoroughfares  are  constantly 

[104] 


Paris,  THE  City  of  Magnificent  Vistas 

swept,  so  that  no  dirt  accumulates  as  in  London  or 

New  York.  Asphaltum  and  wood  form  the  princi- 
pal pavements,  which  on  all  the  main  streets  are 
kept  in  superb  order.  Many  of  the  boulevards 
have  two  or  three  lines  of  trees  on  each  side,  that 
form  a  grateful  shade  in  the  heat  of  summer. 

As  one  looks  down  from  the  Eiffel  Tower  one 
of  the  most  conspicuous  objeds  is  the  gilded  dome 
of  the  Invalides.  Beneath  it  in  a  splendid  tomb  of 
red  porphyry  rest  the  remains  of  Napoleon;  but 
the  stamp  of  the  greatest  of  Frenchmen  has  been 
placed  upon  all  parts  of  Paris.  You  see  the  magic 
letter" N"  on  several  of  the  bridges  that  span  the 
Seine;  on  the  two  arches  reared  to  commemorate 
the  vi6lorics  of  the  conqueror  from  his  first  brilliant 
campaign  in  Italy  down  to  the  Russian  campaign 
which  began  so  ably  and  ended  in  disaster;  on  the 
Vendome  column,  and  on  many  other  monuments 
and  bits  of  statuary. 

On  the  triumphal  arches  Napoleon  proclaimed 
his  deeds  with  no  false  modesty.  Above  all  other 
rulers  of  France,  he  knew  how  to  appeal  to  the 
national  love  of  glory,  and  the  proof  of  this  maybe 
seen  in  the  faces  of  Frenchmen  to-day  as  they  read 
the  inscriptions  on  these  arches,  which  proclaim  the 
supremacy  of  French  arms.  These  sonorous  proc- 
lamations by  Napoleon  help  them  to  forget  the 
feebleness  of  Napoleon  the  Little  and  the  disasters 
of  Mctz  and  Sedan. 

Napoleon's  name  is  still  one  that  fires  the 
French  heart.  His  tomb  attra6ls  larger  crowds  than 
any  other  show  place  in  Paris.  It  is  in  the  Dome 
des  Invalides,  a  church  in  the  rear  of  the  Hotel  des 
Invalides  and  the  Church  of  St.  Louis.  Above  all 
other  sights  in  Paris  this  is  the  most  truly  impress- 
ive.   Frenchmen  and  foreigners  alike  feel  the  gran- 

[■°5] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

deur  of  the  tomb,  which  is  enhanced  by  these  elo- 
quent words  from  Napoleon's  will:  "I  desire  that 
my  ashes  may  rest  on  the  banks  of  the  Seine  in  the 
midst  of  the  French  people  whom  I  have  loved  so 
well." 

The  tomb  of  Napoleon  would  be  far  more  im- 
pressive had  it  been  placed  diredlly  on  the  banks 
of  the  Seine,  as  Grant's  tomb  is  placed  on  the  shore 
of  the  Hudson.  You  pass  from  the  Church  of  the 
Invalides  through  a  narrow  arcade,  turn  a  corner 
and  enter  the  door  of  a  second  church  at  the  rear. 
But  once  inside  you  forget  the  meanness  of  the  ap- 
proach. Diredily  under  a  splendid  dome  is  an  open 
circular  crypt  thirty-six  feet  in  diameter.  Leaning 
on  the  marble  coping  one  looks  down  upon  the 
dark  red  sarcophagus,  thirteen  feet  long  and  nearly 
fifteen  feet  high.  Around  the  tomb  is  a  mosaic 
pavement  of  beautiful  design  and  coloring,  on  which 
are  the  names  of  eight  of  Napoleon's  greatest  battles. 
Encircling  the  crypt  are  twelve  colossal  statues  in 
marble,  representing  the  vidlories  of  Napoleon,  and 
twelve  marble  bas-reliefs.  Six  trophies  include  sixty 
tattered  flags  captured  on  many  battle  fields. 

From  the  dome  a  soft  bluish  light  adds  to  the 
efFeftiveness  of  the  scene.  The  design  of  the  tomb 
is  simple,  massive  and  singularly  solemn  and  im- 
pressive. Whatever  may  be  one's  opinion  of  the 
moral  character  of  Napoleon  or  of  his  influence  on 
France,  it  is  impossible  not  to  feel  a  genuine  thrill 
as  one  looks  down  upon  the  remains  of  the  man 
who  for  twenty  years  ruled  Europe  and  made  France 
the  leading  nation  of  the  world.  In  the  modern 
world  he  holds  the  same  position  that  Caesar  held  in 
the  ancient  world.  Everyone  pays  willing  tribute  to 
the  enormous  ability  and  force  of  this  man  whose 
achievements  will  remain  the  marvel  of  the  ages. 

[,o6] 


Paris,  THE  City  of  Magnificent  Vistas 
In  the  museum  of  the  Hotel  des  Invalides  are 
many  interesting  souvenirs  of  Napoleon.  Here 
may  be  seen  the  simple  army  pallet  on  which  he 
slept  during  his  campaigns;  his  field  glasses  and 
telescope;  the  old  gray  coat  and  cocked  hat  which 
endeared  him  to  his  soldiers;  his  swords  and  pistols 
and  many  beautiful  presents  given  him  by  sover- 
eigns of  Europe.  Here  also  are  souvenirs  of  his 
captivity  at  St.  Helena;  his  favorite  armchair  and 
the  bench  on  which  he  sat  in  the  garden  of  Long- 
wood.  And  here  is  the  death  mask  which  brings 
out  in  a  startling  way  the  essentially  Italian  cast  of 
Napoleon's  features;  the  high-bridged  yet  delicately 
cut  nose,  the  firm  mouth  and  the  strong  chin.  The 
mask  reveals  the  enormous  size  of  Napoleon's  head 
measured  from  ear  to  ear.  In  this  respedl  only  two 
men  of  genius  of  modern  times  have  equaled  him— 
Gladstone  and  Carlyle. 

Many  documents  and  letters  that  illustrate  the 
rapid  rise  of  Napoleon  to  power  and  fame  are  also 
shown  in  these  rooms,  which  furnish  material  for 
several  hours  of  interesting  study  to  anyone  familiar 
with  the  great  Emperor's  career.  Here  again  the 
popular  interest  in  Napoleon  is  shown  in  a  striking 
way.  Every  scrap  of  paper  that  pertained  to  the 
great  Emperor,  every  article  that  was  associated 
with  his  life,  is  the  center  of  an  eager  throng.  The 
souvenirs  of  Napoleon  III  as  well  as  those  of  the 
earlier  Emperors  are  passed  by  carelessly,  but  the 
magic  name  of  the  first  Napoleon  still  has  power  to 
attrad:  the  people  of  France. 


fioy] 


Rich  Art 

Treasures  of  the 

Louvre 


To  THE  average  tourist  Paris  is  always  associ- 
ated with  the  Louvre,  one  of  the  greatest 
colleftions  of  art  in  the  world.  To  one  who 
has  not  seen  the  big  galleries  in  the  Italian  cities 
the  Louvre  is  a  liberal  education  in  the  art  of  the 
last  four  centuries,  but  to  one  who  has  made  a  care- 
ful study  of  the  best  statuary  and  paintings  in 
Naples,  Rome,  Florence  and  Venice,  the  Louvre 
has  very  little  to  offer  which  is  original.  The  array 
of  bronze  and  marble  copies  of  great  original  statues 
of  antiquity  is  impressive,  but  these  copies,  though 
fine  for  educational  purposes,  are  far  inferior  to  the 
marble  originals. 

About  the  only  things  which  are  unique  are  the 
Venus  of  Melos  and  the  winged  Vidtory  of  Samoth- 
race.  The  first  is  too  well  known  by  many  repro- 
du6lions  to  claim  more  than  passing  mention;  and 
it  is  a  fa(5t  that  fine  photographs  of  this  statue  are 
almost  as  satisfying  as  the  original.  The  winged 
Vi6lory,  however,  is  one  of  the  priceless  treasures 
of  Greek  art  that  have  come  down  to  us.  Though 
it  lacks  a  head,  it  is  full  of  life,  and  the  free  move- 
ment of  the  limbs  and  the  sweep  of  the  drapery  are 
fine  beyond  the  power  of  words  to  describe.  The 
stone  boat  on  which  this  statue  stood  was  also  re- 
covered, and  this  gives  additional  interest  to  the 
Vidory.    Coming  upon  it  as  you  go  up  the  main 


[,o8] 


The  Tomb  of  Napoleon,  Under  the  Dome  of  the 
!^hurch  of  the  Invalides  —  the  Most  Impressive  Sight  in  all  Paris. 
Captured  Battle-Flags  From  Historic  Fields  and  Colossal 
Figures  Symbolizing  \'idlories,  Surround  the  Tomb 


Rich  Art  Treasures  of  the  Louvre 

staircase  to  the  pidure  galleries,  this  bit  of  the 
noblest  Greek  art  impresses  itself  upon  the  imagina- 
tion more  vividly  than  anything  else  in  the  miles 
of  galleries  in  the  Louvre. 

More  even  than  the  priceless  pidturcs  in  the 
Louvre  one  is  impressed  with  the  wealth  of  decora- 
tion lavished  upon  all  the  rooms.  Here  are  scores 
of  rooms  with  the  ceilings  decorated  by  famous 
artists,  and  the  cornices  painted  and  gilded  and 
often  made  beautiful  by  groups  of  statuary.  So  rich 
and  varied  is  this  adornment  that  the  eye  becomes 
sated  with  lovely  forms  and  harmonious  colors. 
The  handsomest  room  in  all  the  Louvre,  and  prob- 
ably the  finest  in  the  world,  is  the  gallery  of  Apollo, 
a  rectangular  chamber,  over  two  hundred  feet  long. 
The  prevailing  tints  are  bronze  and  gold.  Every 
inch  of  ceiling,  woodwork  and  walls  is  covered  with 
decoration,  while  superb  marble  statues,  bronzes  and 
many  artistic  tables  and  cabinets  add  to  the  general 
richness  of  effed.  In  the  center  of  the  room,  in  a 
carefully  guarded  cabinet,  are  the  crowns  of  Louis 
XV  and  Napoleon  I,  the  latter  an  imitation  of  the 
crown  of  Charlemagne.  In  this  same  case  are  sev- 
eral crown  jewels  which  were  set  apart  when  the 
others  were  sold  in  1887.  Among  these  are  the 
Regent,  one  of  the  finest  diamonds  of  the  world, 
and  the  Mazarin.  The  display  in  this  room  of 
work  in  rock  crystal,  gold  and  enamel  and  silver 
repousse  work  is  so  rich  that  it  would  require  a 
whole  day  to  examine  it  adequately.  The  exhibits 
include  many  priceless  specimens,  whose  beauty  is 
enhanced  bv  their  artistic  setting  in  rich  cases. 

The  Louvre  has  a  splendid  equipment  for  the 
study  of  Italian,  Flemish,  Spanish  and  French  art. 
An  entire  room  is  devoted  to  Rubens,  while  there 
are  brilliant  specimens  of  the  best  work  of  Raphael, 

[109] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

Titian,  Rembrandt,  Paul  Veronese,  Van  Dyck  and 
other  masters.  In  the  rooms  devoted  to  French  art 
it  is  very  interesting  to  trace  the  development  from 
the  classical  style  of  David  to  the  impressionist 
work  of  Corot,  the  realism  of  Millet  and  the  enor- 
mously clever  effedls  of  Meissonier.  What  cannot 
fail  to  strike  any  observer  of  French  pictures  is  the 
supreme  excellence  of  the  draughtsmen  and  their 
easy  mastery  of  all  the  technical  resources  of  their 
craft.  This  is  especially  noteworthy  when  their  pic- 
tures are  compared  with  th.e  best  work  of  the  mod- 
ern Italian  artists  who  appear  to  revel  in  weird  color 
effeds  and  whose  drawing  is  often  atrociously  bad. 

One  of  the  best  departments  of  the  Louvre  is 
the  Chauchet  coUedlion  given  by  a  wealthy  member 
of  the  French  chamber  of  deputies,  which  includes 
the  originals  of  Millet's  "Angelus,"  Meissonier's 
"The  Return  From  Russia,*' Henner's  "Reading 
Magdalen,"  and  masterpieces  by  Corot,  Daubigny, 
Troyon,  Rosa  Bonheur  and  others.  There  are  few 
poor  canvases  and  one  spends  more  time  profitably 
in  these  rooms  than  in  many  of  the  more  preten- 
tious galleries.  Here  also  are  many  of  the  finest 
bronzes  of  Barye,  master  of  all  the  sculptors  of  wild 
animals.  The  only  colledion  of  Barye's  bronzes 
that  approaches  it  may  be  found  in  the  Corcoran 
gallery  in  Washington. 

The  Louvre  has  been  arranged  as  a  great  edu- 
cational exhibit  of  the  art  of  the  world,  and  especi- 
ally on  the  free  days,  one  may  see  how  the  people 
take  advantage  of  this  school  of  sculpture,  painting 
and  the  applied  arts.  The  efFedl  of  such  a  national 
exhibit  is  incalculable.  It  stimulates  the  artistic 
faculty  among  those  who  possess  the  genuine  crea- 
tive impulse,  while  it  trains  the  eye  and  the  judg- 
ment of  the  great  mass  of  the  people. 

[no] 


Rich  Art  Treasures  of  the  Louvre 
Next  to  the  Louvre  the  most  interesting  collec- 
tion of  statuary  and  paintings  may  be  found  in  the 
Luxembourg  Palace,  built  by  Maria  de  Medicis. 
The  palace  is  now  used  as  the  meeting  place  of  the 
French  Senate  and  in  the  former  orangery  is  the 
museum,  which  contains  a  large  number  of  superb 
specimens  of  the  work  of  modern  French  sculptors. 
The  paintings  include  masterpieces  of  foreign  artists, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  Watts'  "  Love  and 
Life"  and  Whistler's  portrait  of  his  mother.  Among 
the  great  canvases  by  French  painters  may  be 
named  Bastien-Lepage's" Haying,"  Rosa  Bonheur's 
"Husbandry  in  Nivernais,"  Jules  Breton's"  Bless- 
ing the  Crops"  and  Bonnat's  portrait  of  Cardinal 
Lavigerie.  The  garden  of  the  Luxembourg  is  a 
beautiful  renaissance  garden  with  many  fountains 
and  groups  of  statuary. 


[mi] 


Churches 

AND  Monuments  of 

Paris 


OF  THE  churches  of  Paris  Notre  Dame  appeals 
most  strongly  to  the  tourist,  largely  per- 
haps because  it  is  so  firmly  stamped  upon 
the  popular  imagination  through  the  historical  ro- 
mance of  Vidor  Hugo.  It  stands  on  an  island  in 
the  Seine,  and  although  it  is  surrounded  by  lofty 
buildings  it  impresses  one  by  the  majesty  of  its 
facade,  which  has  three  large  recessed  doors  orna- 
mented with  statuary.  Above  these  portals  is  a 
gallery  with  twenty-eight  niches,  containing  statues 
of  Kings  of  Israel  and  Judah.  Above  this  gallery 
is  a  fine  statue  of  the  Virgin,  while  the  center  of 
the  second  story  is  filled  by  a  great  rose  window, 
with  double-pointed  windows  on  each  side.  On  the 
third  story  is  a  gallery  of  pointed  arches,  and  the 
whole  is  surmounted  by  a  balustrade  with  figures 
of  animals  and  monsters.  Two  unfinished  towers, 
each  fifty-two  feet  in  height,  complete  the  facade. 
Despite  the  fad  that  the  towers  appear  too  short, 
the  whole  facade  is  singularly  impressive  because 
of  the  portals  and  the  rose  window  and  the  richness 
of  the  decoration. 

The  interior  of  the  church  is  noteworthy  for  its 
early  Gothic  constru6lion,  the  beauty  of  the  stained 
glass  in  the  windows  over  the  portals  and  the  rich- 
ness of  the  pulpit,  which  was  designed  by  the  great 
architect,  Viollet-le-Duc.  From  the  towers  of  Notre 


[112] 


Churches  and  Monuments  of  Paris 

Dame  one  commands  a  superb  view  of  Paris  and 
its  suburbs.  In  the  south  tower  is  the  great  bell, 
weighing  twelve  and  a  halt  tons.  All  about  the 
gallery  that  runs  around  the  tower  are  hideous  gar- 
goyles which  Vidtor  Hugo  has  made  memorable  by 
his  pen  picture  of  the  deadly  struggle  on  this  tower 
of  the  priest  and  Quasimodo,  the  dwarf 

At  the  head  of  the  Rue  Royale,  which  leads 
from  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  stands  the  Made- 
leine, a  church  which  bears  a  striking  resemblance 
to  a  Roman  temple.  Napoleon  designed  it  as  a 
temple  of  glory,  but  it  was  not  until  1842  that  it 
was  completed.  Surrounded  by  a  colonnade  of 
great  Corinthian  columns,  the  niches  filled  with 
statues  of  thirty-four  modern  saints,  this  church  has 
a  simplicity  and  a  majesty  that  is  very  striking. 
The  interior,  which  consists  of  one  great  nave  with 
side  chapels,  is  the  most  impressive  in  Paris.  The 
building,  which  is  three  hundred  and  fifty-four  feet 
long,  one  hundred  and  forty-one  feet  wide  and  one 
hundred  feet  in  height,  has  a  bronze  roof  which  is 
conspicuous  by  its  green  shade  in  any  birdseye  view 
of  the  French  capital. 

Another  imposing  edifice,  built  in  imitation  of 
the  oldest  building  in  constant  use  in  Rome,  is  the 
Pantheon.  Originally  designed  as  a  church,  it  has 
now  become  the  tomb  of  many  famous  Frenchmen. 
Built  in  the  form  of  a  Greek  cross,  the  dome  rises 
to  a  height  of  three  hundred  and  eighty-four  feet. 
The  portico  consists  of  a  great  colonnade  of  twenty- 
two  Corinthian  columns,  each  eighty-two  feet  in 
height.  The  interior  is  singularly  spacious  and  is 
adorned  with  many  historical  and  religious  paint- 
ings. In  the  vaults  are  the  tombs  of  famous  men, 
from  Rousseau  to  Vidlor  Hugo.  Here  also  is  the 
tomb  of  that  first   Grenadier   of  France,  La   Tour 

["3] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

d' Auvergne,  of  whose  valor  such  wonderful  romances 
are  related.  Among  the  latest  literary  men  to  be 
buried  here  was  Emile  Zola. 

Another  imposing  building  is  the  Opera-house, 
designed  by  Charles  Garnier,  and  famous  as  the 
largest  theater  in  the  world.  It  covers  three  acres 
and  occupies  an  entire  block.  Facing  a  public  square, 
the  exterior  is  embellished  with  statuary  and  other 
decoration,  while  gilding,  bronze  and  marbles  of 
many  colors  add  to  the  richness  of  the  effeft.  One 
of  the  most  piduresque  features  is  a  series  of  cande- 
labra, female  torch-bearers  in  bronze.  The  finest 
features  of  the  interior  are  the  grand  staircase,  with 
steps  of  white  marble,  handrail  of  Algerian  onyx, 
bronze  statuary  as  lamp  supporters  and  magnificent 
ceiling  frescoes,  and  the  foyer,  which  is  one  hundred 
and  seventy-seven  feet  long,  forty-three  feet  wide 
and  fifty-nine  feet  in  height.  The  vaulting  is  orna- 
mented with  mosaics,  and  this  noble  room  is  made 
more  splendid  by  huge  mirrors,  gilded  statues  and 
two  marble  chimney-pieces.  The  auditorium  is 
beautifully  decorated,  but  the  colors  are  now  faded. 

It  was  my  ill  fortune  to  hear  in  this  beautiful 
place  the  opera  of  "Romeo  et  Juliette"  sung  in  the 
most  perfundlory  way.  The  soprano  was  a  fine 
woman  in  face  and  form,  but  her  voice  was  medi- 
ocre, while  the  tenor  was  so  atrocious  that  no  audi- 
ence in  any  large  American  city  would  have  toler- 
ated him.  The  costumes,  the  scenery  and  the  great 
ballet  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  ad  were  all  superb, 
but  it  was  melancholy  to  see  this  fine  temple  of 
music  given  over  to  commonplace  singers. 

The  audience  at  the  Grand  Opera  was  not  large, 
but  it  interested  me  because  of  the  peculiarities  of 
the  French  playgoer.  Of  the  three  tiers  of  boxes, 
the  top  ones  alone  were  well  filled.    In  some  of  the 

["4] 


The  Winged  Vidlory  of  Samothrace,  One  of  the  Finest 

Pieces  of  Greek  Sculpture.     It  is  the  Chief  Treasure  of  the  Louvre 

in  Paris  and  Stands  in  the  Prow  of  the  Stone  Boat 

Which  Was  Found  With  the  Statue 


i 


Churches  and  Monuments  ok  Paris 

lower  boxes  were  overdressed  women  wearing  for- 
tunes in  diamonds  and  pearls;  in  others  sat  white- 
haired  men  who  seemed  to  spend  most  of  their 
time  between  the  ads  in  leveling  their  opera  glasses 
upon  attractive  young  women  in  various  parts  of 
the  house.  After  each  adt  those  in  the  parquet  and 
orchestra  circles  left  their  seats  and  promenaded  in 
the  galleries  and  the  foyer,  many  talcing  drinks,  ices 
and  cakes  at  the  large  buffet.  I'he  men  all  carried 
their  silk  hats  into  the  house  and  between  the  adts, 
with  hats  on  their  heads,  they  faced  about  and  de- 
liberately raked  the  boxes  with  their  opera  glasses. 
Two  good-looking  negroes  in  full  dress  suits  occu- 
pied conspicuous  seats  in  the  orchestra  circle. 

The  waits  between  the  ads  were  very  long  and 
at  midnight,  when  I  left,  the  last  ad  had  just  begun. 
Ladies'  hats  and  wraps  and  gentlemen's  overcoats 
are  left  in  the  dressing-rooms  with  women  who  give 
checks  for  them.  You  pay  for  a  programme  no 
matter  what  part  of  the  house  you  may  have  a  ticket 
for.  Orchestra  chairs  about  halfway  back  from  the 
stage  are  fourteen  francs,  but  it  costs  a  franc  and  a 
half  extra  to  reserve  seats,  making  the  total  cost  of 
a  seat  a  trifle  over  three  dollars. 

The  most  conspicuous  of  the  public  monuments 
of  Paris  are  the  two  arches  of  triumph  ereded  by 
Napoleon,  one  in  the  Place  de  Carrousel  and  the 
other  in  the  Place  d'Etoile  at  the  end  of  theChamps- 
Elysees.  The  first  was  originally  the  principal 
entrance  to  the  Tuileries.  An  imitation  of  the  arch 
of  Septimus  Severus  at  Rome,  this  arch  is  too  wide 
for  its  height,  but  it  is  ornamented  with  some  fine 
marble  reliefs  representing  famous  vidories  of  Na- 
poleon. It  is  surmounted  by  a  quadriga  of  bronze 
depiding  the  triumph  of  the  Restoration.  This 
took  the  place  of  the  famous  quadriga  brought  from 

["Sl 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
St.  Mark's  in  Venice  by  Napoleon,  but  restored  to 
the  Venetian  church  by  the  Austrian  Emperor. 
The  other  triumphal  arch  is  the  largest  in  the  world. 
It  is  one  hundred  and  sixty-four  feet  high  and  one 
hundred  and  forty-eight  feet  wide,  and  is  adorned 
with  statuary  and  bas-reliefs  of  famous  vidories  by 
Napoleon.  This  arch  is  a  landmark  which  is  visible 
for  many  miles. 

Of  the  many  monuments  ereded  in  Paris  to 
distinguished  Frenchmen,  one  of  the  finest  is  the 
Gambetta  monument  in  the  Square  of  the  Louvre. 
Against  a  pyramid  of  granite  is  a  bronze  group 
representing  Gambetta  organizing  the  Committee 
of  National  Defense  in  1870  and  1871.  Decorative 
statues  in  bronze  and  passages  from  Gambetta's 
speeches  complete  the  monument.  Scattered  about 
Paris,  mainly  in  small  squares  and  parks,  are  scores 
of  bronze  and  granite  monuments  to  famous  men, 
many  of  them  writers  and  artists. 


[116] 


Some  of 

THE  Famous  Museums 
OF  Paris 


OF  THE  various  museums  in  Paris  the  richest 
is  the  Cluny,  which  occupies  the  old  build- 
ing ereded  by  the  Benedidline  abbots.  It  is 
a  fine  specimen  of  the  late  Gothic  style  which  has 
come  down  from  the  fifteenth  century  with  very 
few  changes.  The  museum  includes  over  eleven 
thousand  objedls,  representing  works  of  art  and  in- 
dustry. The  display  of  magnificent  work  in  iron, 
silver,  ivory  and  wood  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth 
centuries  is  bewildering.  To  this  is  added  superb 
colledions  of  tapestries,  faience,  enamel,  musical  in- 
struments and  many  objeds  conneded  with  royalty 
and  the  church. 

Even  more  interesting  to  the  American  than 
the  Cluny  is  the  Carnavalet  Museum,  which  illus- 
trates the  history  of  Paris  and  especially  of  the 
French  Revolution.  For  eighteen  years  this  house 
was  the  home  of  Mme.  de  Sevigne,  whose  letters 
to  her  daughter  are  among  the  classics  of  French 
literature.  The  many  relics  and  prints  of  old  Paris 
are  extremely  interesting,  but  what  will  linger  long 
in  the  memory  of  every  visitor  are  the  letters  and 
documents  bearing  on  the  French  Revolution. 
Here  are  autograph  letters  of  Robespierre,  Marat, 
Mirabeau,  Danton,  Desmoulins,  Voltaire  and  many 
others.  Of  all  these,  Voltaire  in  his  old  age  wrote 
the  clearest   manuscript.    Here   also   is   the   death 


[■'7] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
warrant  of  Louis  XVI,  in  which  the  King  is  referred 
to  as  Louis  Capet,  as  well  as  the  King's  autograph 
order  for  the  defenders  of  the  Tuileries  to  stop  firing. 

Among  these  relics  are  specimens  of  the  lettres 
de  cachet,  signed  by  Louis  XV  and  Louis  XVI,  by 
means  of  which  any  courtier  or  favorite  could  secure 
the  imprisonment  of  an  enemy  without  process  of 
law.  Among  the  relics  in  one  case  is  a  copy  of  the 
Constitution  of  1 793,  bound  in  human  skin.  There 
are  portraits  and  miniatures  of  many  famous  adors 
in  the  revolution,  including  a  fine  pidure  of  Char- 
lotte Corday,  sketched  while  she  was  on  trial  for 
killing  Marat  in  his  bath  tub.  In  this  room  is  the 
arm-chair  in  which  Voltaire  died  and  the  snuff  box 
carried  by  Marat.  These  relics  make  very  real  to 
us  the  adlors  in  this  great  struggle  for  popular  liberty. 

Another  museum  of  much  interest  to  me  was 
the  house  of  Vidor  Hugo  in  the  Place  des  Vosges. 
For  fifteen  years  from  1833  to  1848  the  author  oc- 
cupied the  second  floor  of  this  house,  which  looks 
out  upon  a  little  square,  and  in  these  rooms  have 
been  preserved  some  of  the  furniture  which  he  used, 
with  many  of  his  books  and  pictures  and  a  large 
number  of  sketches  made  by  famous  artists  for  illus- 
tration of  his  books.  The  stairway  is  hung  with 
many  of  these  drawings  by  Rochegrosse,  Brion, 
Robert-Fleury  and  others  as  well  as  playbills  of  the 
first  performances  of  "Ruy  Bias," "Notre  Dame  de 
Paris"  and  other  dramas. 

The  drawing-room  is  hung  with  pidures,  many 
of  them  suggested  by  Hugo's  novels,  and  there  are 
busts  of  the  poet  by  Rodin  and  others.  In  the 
center  of  the  room  is  a  table  made  by  Viftor  Hugo 
in  Guernsey  with  the  autographs,  the  pens  and  the 
inkstands  of  Lamartine,  George  Sand,  Alexandre 
Dumas  the  elder,  and  Hugo  himself.   In  the  library 

[118] 


Famous  Museums  of  Paris 

are  first  editions  of  Hugo's  works  with  the  later 
editions,  and  a  large  number  of  drawings  by  the 
poet  which  show  that  he  was  a  very  poor  drafts- 
man. On  the  wall  are  portraits  of  Lincoln,  George 
Sand  and  the  elder  Dumas,  given  to  Hugo.  On  the 
floor  above  are  many  interesting  relics,  the  best  be- 
ing the  simple  furniture  of  the  room  on  the  Avenue 
d'Eylau  where  Hugo  died.  Here  is  his  bed,  his 
dressing  case,  his  writing  table,  pens,  inkstand  and 
manuscript  case. 

Among  the  interesting  features  of  Paris  are  the 
halles  or  markets  which  Zola  depidts  so  well  in  one 
of  his  novels.  The  best  time  to  see  these  markets 
is  early  in  the  morning,  when  the  streets  around  the 
large  building  are  filled  with  women  selling  vege- 
tables, fruit  and  flowers.  These  women  line  the 
streets  on  each  side  so  that  it  is  difiicult  for  wagons 
to  drive  between  them.  In  the  great  market  build- 
ing everything  is  classified.  In  one  avenue  may  be 
found  a  huge  flower  display,  in  the  next  fruit,  in 
the  next  nuts,  and  so  on.  In  one  quarter  poultry  is 
being  sold  at  auction  and  in  another  sheep  and 
cattle.  Considering  the  enormous  business  trans- 
acted, the  market  is  very  clean. 

It  seems  to  be  the  custom  for  thousands  of  men 
and  women  to  do  their  own  marketing,  for  here 
were  scores  buying  provisions  for  the  day  and  pack- 
ing them  in  small  baskets.  It  was  a  cold  morning 
when  my  visit  was  made  and  many  men  and  women, 
who  had  been  there  since  midnight,  were  taking 
soup  or  coff^ee  and  bread.  Itinerant  venders  with 
steaming  pots  passed  through  the  lanes  of  people 
and  dispensed  refreshments.  The  fruit  and  vege- 
tables displaved  in  the  street  looked  clean  and  fresh, 
and  in  the  stalls  much  artistic  taste  was  shown,  es- 
pecially in  the  arrangement  of  flowers  and  fruit. 

[••9] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

One  of  the  sights  of  Paris  which  many  neglect 
is  the  cemetery  of  Pere-Lachaise,  where  rest  the  re- 
mains of  the  famous  dead.  From  the  main  entrance 
an  avenue  bordered  by  cypress  trees  leads  up  a 
slight  hill  to  the  Monument  to  the  Dead,  by  P.  A. 
Bartholome.  This  is  carved  from  a  single  block  of 
limestone  and  represents  humanity  pressing  forward 
to  the  door  of  the  tomb.  The  figures  are  full  of 
pathos  and,  taken  all  in  all,  this  seemed  to  me  the 
most  effective  piece  of  sculpture  in  all  Paris.  The 
cemetery  includes  over  one  hundred  and  ten  acres. 
It  is  laid  out  in  avenues,  but  much  of  the  beauty  of 
the  place  is  lost  because  of  the  fences  that  inclose 
so  many  graves  and  tombs. 

The  finest  monument  in  the  cemetery  is  that 
erected  to  Thiers.  It  consists  of  a  large  granite 
chapel,  with  massive  bronze  doors.  One  of  the  most 
popular  monuments  is  that  erected  to  Abelard  and 
Heloise.  Under  a  Gothic  canopy  rest  the  statues 
of  the  couple  whose  love  and  misfortunes  have 
been  the  theme  of  so  many  writers.  In  wandering 
through  the  cemetery  one  comes  upon  the  graves 
of  many  famous  authors,  dramatists  and  composers, 
each  marked  by  statue,  bust  or  medallion.  It  is 
good  to  see  the  loving  care  with  which  the  French 
people  honor  their  men  and  women  of  genius. 


[120] 


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PLATE   XLII 
Monument  to  Gambetta,  in  the  Square  of  the  Louvre,  Paris.     A 
Stone  Column  With  a  Bronze  Group  Representing  Gambetta  as  Organ- 
izer of  the  National  Defense  in  1870-71.     Decorative 
Statues  Adorn  the  Sides.    Above  is 
Democracy  Astride  a  Lion 


^^g^gg^' 


PLATE    XLllI 

The  Dome  of  the  Invalides,  Paris,  Which  Houses  the 

Tomb  of  Napoleon.     It  Was  Built  as  a  Royal  Church  Where 

the  King  and  His  Court  Could  Worship 


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PLATE    XLVII 

Main  Staircase  of  the  Grand  Opera  House,  Paris,  the 

Largest  Theatre  in  the  World,  Covering  Nearly  Three  Acres. 

This  Entrance  Was  the  Masterpiece  of  the  Architetl, 

Charles  Garnier 


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LONDON,  SEAT  OF 
THE  FOUNDERS  OF  WORLD- 
WIDE EMPIRE 


London,  Huge, 

Smoke-Begrimed  and 

Impressive 


THE  first  impression  that  London  makes  is 
one  of  immensity.  To  the  sensitive  tourist 
it  seems  impossible  in  a  short  visit  to  see 
anything  ot  this  huge  city,  with  its  miles  of  streets 
and  its  thousands  of  famous  buildings.  This  im- 
pression is  heightened  by  the  gloom  due  to  a  cloudy 
sky  and  a  pall  of  soft  coal  smoke.  But  after  the 
first  depression  the  tourist  sets  out  in  systematic 
fashion  to  see  what  he  can  do  in  the  short  time  at 
his  disposal.  Two  weeks  I  spent  in  this  task  of 
seeing  all  that  was  most  interesting  in  London  and 
its  environs.  This  labor  was  made  more  difficult 
by  ten  days  of  continuous  rain.  In  any  other  place 
this  rain  would  have  discouraged  me,  but  the  spec- 
tacle of  men  and  women  going  about  London  streets 
without  umbrellas  put  me  on  my  mettle,  and  after 
the  first  half  day  I  never  deferred  any  excursion  be- 
cause of  showers  or  a  genuine  downpour. 

To  an  American,  London  in  March  is  not  at- 
tra6live,  because  of  the  gloomy  skies  and  the  per- 
vasive coal  smoke;  but  it  impresses  the  most  care- 
less observer  by  its  tremendous  business  adivity, 
its  massive  buildings  and  its  millions  of  people, 
London  goes  late  to  bed  and  rises  very  late.  At 
nine  in  the  morning  more  than  half  the  shops  have 
not  opened;  at  ten  you  are  luckv  to  find  any  of  the 
responsible  heads   of  departments   at   their   desks. 


[123] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

There  are  no  signs  anywhere  outside  of  the  Stock 
Exchange  of  the  feverish  rush  that  marks  New 
York  or  Chicago;  five  o'clock  tea  is  served  in  most 
of  the  offices;  but  these  do  not  close  before  six-thirty 
or  seven,  and  in  the  business  day  probably  as  much 
"work  is  done  as  in  the  great  American  cities. 

In  getting  a  general  idea  of  London  streets  the 
best  plan  is  to  take  a  seat  on  the  top  of  a  motor 
omnibus  and  ride  through  the  principal  avenues  of 
business  and  pleasure.  The  motor  bus  is  one  of  the 
great  time-savers  of  London.  It  goes  everywhere 
and  its  speed  is  far  superior  even  to  that  of  a  good 
carriage.  For  one  penny  or  two  cents  the  tourist 
may  ride  about  a  mile  and  a  half;  for  threepence  he 
may  go  to  the  suburbs,  a  distance  of  about  seven 
miles.  Next  to  the  motor  bus  in  convenience  is  the 
surface  tram-car,  which  reaches  all  parts  of  the  city, 
but  which  is  slower  than  the  bus  and  not  so  pleasant, 
as  the  upper  seats  are  glassed  in. 

Nothing  more  exhilarating  can  be  imagined  than 
riding  for  the  first  time  on  the  top  of  a  motor  bus 
through  historic  streets  of  London,  like  the  Strand 
and  Fleet  street,  Holborn  and  Oxford  street,  Picca- 
dilly, Park  Lane  and  Regent  street.  He  must  be 
sadly  lacking  in  imagination  who  cannot  get  a  thrill 
as  he  passes  Trafalgar  Square,  the  Parliament  build- 
ings, Westminster  Abbey,  the  Temple,  the  Tower 
and  other  famous  places  which  have  been  familiar 
in  his  reading  from  childhood.  The  two  under- 
ground railroad  systems  do  an  enormous  business 
and  many  Londoners  will  tell  you  that  they  enjoy 
travel  on  these  lines,  especially  on  the  deep  tubes 
which  Yerkes  built.  But  the  American  who  has 
any  nerves  cannot  bring  himself  to  fancy  the  tubes 
because  of  the  tremendous  roar  made  by  the  trains. 
These  tubes  are  about  sixty  feet  underground  and 

[124] 


London,  Huge  and  Impressive 

the  descent  is  made  by  an  elevator.    The  circuhition 
of  air  is  good,  but  the  roar  affei:;ts  the  ear  disastrously. 

The  main  thing  that  impresses  the  stranger  in 
London  is  the  massiveness  ot  the  buildings  and 
bridges  and  all  public  monuments.  Everything, 
even  to  the  private  residences,  looks  as  though 
made  to  endure  forever.  Wood  as  building  material 
is  pradtically  unknown.  In  Holborn  are  a  few  old 
buildings  with  plaster  fronts  and  battens  of  wood, 
but  these  were  the  only  strudtures  that  I  saw  in 
London  not  built  of  brick  or  stone.  Even  the  roofs 
are  of  tile,  so  that  there  is  pradtically  nothing  for  a 
fire  to  feed  upon.  In  all  the  public  buildings  and 
in  many  of  the  private  houses  the  stairways  are  of 
stone  or  cement  and  the  floors  are  of  tile  or  inlaid 
hardwood.  In  the  finest  streets,  where  land  is  very 
valuable,  few  buildings  are  over  six  stories  in  height. 
This  is  because  the  English  law  recognizes  the  right 
of  a  property  owner  to  protedl  the  light  and  air 
about  his  building.  You  cannot  ere6l  a  skyscraper 
even  on  a  valuable  lot,  because  the  owners  of  ad- 
joining houses  would  sue  you  for  destroying  their 
light  and  air.  Thus  there  is  a  uniformity  in  height 
in  all  public  buildings  which  adds  much  to  the 
beauty  of  London  streets. 

The  city  is  also  made  pidluresque  by  many 
small  parks  and  squares  and  by  some  splendid  great 
parks  and  avenues  in  the  West  End.  The  Thames 
is  not  so  essential  an  element  in  the  beauty  of  the 
city  as  is  the  Seine  in  Paris,  but  the  series  of  em- 
bankments on  one  side,  with  the  gardens  and  many 
noble  buildings,  make  the  river  front  singularly  im- 
pressive. The  river,  with  its  many  bridges  and  its 
numerous  boats,  suggests  something  of  the  great 
ocean  carrying  trade  which  has  done  its  share  in 
making  London  the  greatest  city  of  the  world. 

['25] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

The  green  of  many  small  parks,  squares  and 
private  gardens  does  much  to  rest  the  eye  in  Lon- 
don; but  the  city  is  very  somber  because  of  the  de- 
posit of  soft  coal  smoke  which  blackens  and  corrodes 
marble  and  stone  and  begrimes  everything  which  it 
touches.  While  I  was  in  London  the  Daily  Tele- 
graph printed  many  letters  suggesting  remedies  for 
the  smoke  nuisance.  One  scientist  pointed  out  that 
it  was  the  sulphuric  acid  that  resulted  from  the 
combustion  of  soft  coal  that  ruined  fine  buildings 
like  Westminster  Abbey  and  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 
The  acid  forms  a  deposit  that  frequently  hangs  like 
staladiites  on  the  marble  cornices  of  great  public 
buildings  and  eats  into  the  stone.  Many  of  the 
marble  buildings  are  cleaned  periodically,  but  thio 
deposit  may  be  seen  best  on  old  brick  strudures 
where  it  has  accumulated  for  years.  All  statuary 
in  the  open  air  soon  becomes  blackened.  The  efFe6t 
of  this  coal  smoke  on  human  beings  cannot  fail  to 
be  disastrous.  In  my  own  case  the  pungent  reek 
of  this  smoke  in  the  morning  when  fires  were  lighted 
forced  me  to  close  the  hotel  window.  As  I  was  out 
practically  all  day  my  throat  and  lungs  were  irri- 
tated from  breathing  the  smoke-laden  air  and  my 
eyes  became  sore  and  swollen.  Of  course,  one  soon 
gets  accustomed  even  to  such  impure  air,  but  sev- 
eral Americans  whom  I  met  and  who  were  residents 
of  London  declared  that  they  had  chronic  bron- 
chitis, which  only  disappeared  when  they  left  the 
sooty  atmosphere  of  the  city  behind  them.  It  is  as 
idle  to  attempt  to  keep  clean  linen  in  London  as 
in  Pittsburg  in  the  old  days,  for  a  large  flake  of  soot 
at  any  time  may  smudge  collar  or  shirt  front. 

What  impresses  the  American  in  London  most 
strongly  is  the  ease  with  which  the  enormous  street 
traffic  is  handled.    The  London  "bobby"  or  police- 

[126] 


London,  Huge  and  Imi'kkssive 

man  has  been  praised  for  this,  hut  it  is  due  hirgely 
to  the  wise  custom  of  turning  to  tlie  left  in  driving. 
This  rule  splits  traffic  into  two  great  streams,  one 
going  down  the  street  on  the  left  and  the  other 
coming  up  on  the  right.  This  simplifies  greatly  the 
problem  of  crossing  busy  thoroughfares,  for  the 
pedestrian  need  look  in  only  one  direction  while 
crossing  half  of  the  street.  It  also  makes  the  regu- 
lation of  traffic  very  easy  for  the  police  officer,  as 
in  case  ot  any  sign  of  congestion  he  merely  lilts  his 
hand  and  stops  all  vehicles  that  are  bearing  down 
on  the  threatened  point.  It  is  a  marvel  how  so 
many  motor  buses  and  taxis  can  get  about  the 
streets  of  London  without  collisions,  especially  as 
the  drivers  allow  only  an  inch  or  two  of  space  even 
when  passing  tram-cars.  These  drivers  are  wonder- 
fully skillful,  and  in  all  my  wandering  about  Lon- 
don I  never  saw  a  serious  motor  collision.  Most 
of  the  accidents  are  due  to  horses  slipping  upon  the 
wet  pavement.  The  street  pavements  are  largely 
of  wood,  the  old  Nicholson  pavement  which  San 
Francisco  tried  thirty  years  ago  and  rejected  because 
the  wooden  blocks  warped  and  bulged.  Much  of 
this  was  due  to  the  failure  to  lay  a  good  bed  of 
concrete  under  the  wood.  This  pavement  appears 
to  endure  well  the  tremendous  traffic  of  London's 
busiest  streets,  and  it  is  the  ideal  roadway  for 
loaded  teams,  as  the  horses  can  always  secure  a  grip 
with  their  shoes,  even  in  wet  weather. 


[127] 


St.  Paul's 

AND  Westminster 

Abbey 


IONDON  I  saw  under  the  evil  influences  of  the 
great  coal  strike  and  of  suffragette  adlivity. 
_^  The  result  of  the  smashing  of  many  fine 
show  windows  in  the  West  End  streets  was  that 
the  stores  dropped  their  curtains  at  night  and  made 
the  streets  look  like  a  tomb.  The  most  disastrous 
result  to  the  tourist,  was  that  because  of  fear  of  the 
threats  of  these  women  many  of  the  public  build- 
ings were  closed.  The  British  Museum  shut  its 
doors,  and  the  only  department  that  remained  open 
was  the  reading-room.  Hundreds  of  tourists  were 
turned  away  every  day  from  this,  the  chief  show 
place  in  London.  To  secure  admittance  to  any  of 
the  priceless  colleftions  of  this  museum  an  Embassy 
letter  to  the  diredlor  was  necessary.  Hampton 
Court  palace  was  shut,  and  so  much  red  tape  was 
necessary  to  get  admission  that  few  attempted  it. 
The  London  newspapers,  with  that  quiet  disregard 
of  public  convenience  which  enrages  the  American, 
continued  to  print  daily  lists  of  museums  and  build- 
ings open  to  the  public,  but  a  notice  at  the  bottom 
said  that  owing  to  the  suffragette  activity  certain  of 
these  places  were  closed.  No  attempt  was  made  to 
specify  the  places  that  were  shut;  this  labor  was 
calmly  thrown  upon  the  reader.  In  the  same  way, 
when  the  steamer  Oceana  was  wrecked  not  a  single 
newspaper  in  London  printed  the  list  of  the  seven 


[128] 


The  Chapel  of  Henry  VII,  the  Chief  Glory  of  Westminster 

Abbey,  London.     Note  the  Elaborate  Carving  of  the  Oak  Choir 

Stalls,  the  Fan-tracery  of  the  Ceiling,  Which  Though 

Executed  in  Stone,  Seems  Light  and  Delicate  as 

Lace  Work,  and  tlic  Beautiful  Windows 


St.  Paul's  and  Westminster  Abbey 

passengers  and  twelve  members  of  the  crew  who 
were  drowned  until  three  days  after  the  wreck,  when 
the  steamship  company  furnished  an  official  list. 
This  list  would  have  been  the  tirst  thing  that  an 
American  reporter  would  have  secured. 

London  has  no  avenues  so  fine  as  the  Bois  de 
Boulogne  and  the  Champs-Klysees,  but  the  great 
open  spaces  of  St.  James  and  Hyde  Parks  and 
Kensington  Gardens,  with  such  streets  as  Regent 
street,  Piccadilly,  Park  Lane  and  Hyde  Park  Place 
make  very  good  substitutes.  Here  in  this  new  West 
End,  with  the  magnificent  monument  to  (^ueen  Vic- 
toria, are  spacious  avenues  and  broad,  green  fields 
and  freedom  from  the  smoke  and  grime  that  hurt 
so  seriously  the  older  quarters  of  the  city.  And 
here,  too,  in  walking  through  Whitehall  one  gets 
his  first  idea  of  the  enormous  number  of  houses  and 
offices  needed  for  the  army  and  navy  and  the  civil 
service.  Old  buildings  are  now  being  demolished 
near  St.  James  Park  to  provide  for  the  massing  of 
all  these  Government  offices  in  one  district. 

Of  all  the  sights  in  London,  the  American  prob- 
ably turns  first  to  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  the  city's 
most  famous  building  and  its  greatest  landmark. 
The  Cathedral  stands  in  a  busy  commercial  center, 
and  tall  buildings  approach  it  so  closely  that  one 
cannot  get  a  proper  view,  as  of  St.  Peter's  at  Rome. 
Yet  the  structure  designed  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren 
is  impressive  from  whatever  diredlion  one  may  see 
it.  Walking  up  Ludgate  Hill  it  fills  the  whole  end 
of  the  street,  although  the  beauty  and  size  of  the 
dome  cannot  be  appreciated  except  from  a  distance. 
After  seeing  St.  Peter's,  with  its  wealth  of  decora- 
tion, the  interior  of  St.  Paul's  seems  comparatively 
bare  and  forbidding,  but  a  study  of  the  splendid 
Gothic  arches  and  the  great  rose  windows  will  con- 

[129] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

sole  one  for  the  lack  of  pictures  and  statues  and 
gilding.  The  Cathedral  is  second  only  to  West- 
minster Abbey  as  the  resting  place  of  England's 
illustrious  dead.  Here  are  monuments  to  Welling- 
ton, Nelson,  Rodney,  Napier  and  many  others.  In 
the  crypt,  which  is  the  full  size  of  the  Cathedral,  is 
the  sarcophagus  of  Wellington,  of  porphyry  on  a 
granite  base,  and  in  the  place  of  honor,  under  the 
dome,  the  black  marble  sarcophagus  of  Nelson, 
which  was  originally  made  for  Cardinal  Wolsey. 
The  churchyard  at  the  back  of  St.  Paul's  is  sur- 
rounded by  buildings  which  are  associated  with 
many  worthies  of  English  literature,  from  Shakes- 
peare to  Dr.  Johnson  and  Goldsmith. 

Next  to  St.  Paul's  naturally  comes  Westminster 
Abbey,  which  is  singularly  impressive  at  first  en- 
trance, but  when  studied  proves  disappointing  be- 
cause of  the  way  the  various  monuments  are  hud- 
dled together  and  of  their  inartistic  charadler.  Any 
nation  that  was  sensitive  to  bad  art  would  clear  out 
many  of  these  ugly  monuments  eredled  to  mediocre 
men  and  fill  their  places  with  tributes  to  those  who 
deserve  national  recognition.  As  it  is,  fully  one- 
half  of  the  monuments  bear  the  names  of  people  of 
small  reputation.  Even  in  the  Poets'  Corner  there 
is  an  enormous  monument  to  the  Duke  of  Argyll, 
while  Macaulay,  Thackeray  and  Scott  are  repre- 
sented by  simple  busts.  The  Chapel  of  Henry  VII 
is  the  finest  in  the  Abbey.  The  choir  stalls  are 
beautifully  carved  and  the  chapel  is  famous  for  its 
fan-tracery  ceiling,  executed  in  stone,  but  so  light 
and  graceful  that  it  looks  like  lacework.  The  Chapel 
of  Henry  V  is  made  noteworthy  by  the  old  oak 
coronation  chair  of  Edward  I,  in  which  every  Eng- 
lish monarch  since  his  time  has  been  crowned.  The 
Abbey  is  full  of  interest  to  any  one  fond  of  Gothic 

[130] 


St.  Paul's  and  Westminster  Abbey 
architedlure.    The  vistas  made  by  nave  and  transepts 
are  very  beautitul  and  a  study  of  the  carving  in  the 
various  chapels  will  reveal  many  curious  features  of 
sixteenth  century  decorative  work. 

London  is  full  of  old  churches  that  have  great 
historical  and  architedtural  interest.  Among  these 
may  be  named  the  old  Temple  Church,  which  still 
stands  among  the  cloisters  of  the  Inner  Temple. 
All  around  it  the  ancient  buildings  are  devoted  to 
law  offices  and  quarters  for  educating  and  housing 
students  of  law.  In  this  old  church  may  be  heard 
on  Sunday  some  of  the  finest  music  in  London. 
Near  this  church  is  the  grave  of  Oliver  Goldsmith, 
and  not  far  away  in  Brick  Court  is  an  old  building 
with  a  medallion  of  the  author  of  "The  Vicar  of 
Wakefield^  stating  that  the  writer  lived  and  died  in 
a  chamber  on  the  second  floor  of  the  building. 
Thackeray  also  had  chambers  in  this  building  at 
one  time.  The  Temple  cloisters  and  the  gardens 
give  one  the  idea  of  age  more  vividly  than  any  other 
buildings  in  London.  It  is  significant  of  the  pious 
care  that  Englishmen  take  of  historical  places  that 
the  large  gardens  belonging  to  the  Temple  should 
have  been  preserved  through  all  these  years  although 
the  land  is  very  valuable. 

Down  in  the  heart  of  London,  off  Cheapside, 
stands  the  Church  of  St.  Mary  le  Bow,  which  is 
noteworthy  from  the  fadl  that  the  Cockney  or  gen- 
uine Londoner  is  supposed  to  be  born  within  sound 
of  Bow  bells,  which  are  rung  from  the  steeple  of 
St.  Mary's. 


[■31] 


History 

Seen  in  the  Tower 

OF  London 


OF  ALL  the  show  places  in  London  the  one 
which  appeals  most  strongly  to  the  Ameri- 
can tourist  is  the  Tower.  Doubtless  this  is 
due  to  the  many  stories  told  of  famous  prisoners 
who  spent  weary  days  in  the  gloomy  chambers  of 
the  Tower.  From  Anne  Boleyn  to  Lord  Eraser  of 
Lovat,  the  list  is  long  and  illustrious  of  those  who 
were  beheaded,  either  in  the  Tower  itself  or  on  the 
hill,  which  is  marked  to-day  by  a  stone  slab.  The 
Tower,  which  is  built  on  the  shore  of  the  Thames, 
consists  of  two  lines  of  walls  with  towers  at  regular 
intervals.  Beyond  the  outer  wall  is  a  moat,  and 
outside  of  this  is  now  a  handsome  garden.  In  the 
center  rises  the  square  white  Tower  from  which  floats 
the  flag.  For  centuries  the  Tower  was  used  as  a 
prison  and  a  royal  residence,  but  for  many  years  it 
has  served  mostly  as  an  arsenal.  The  warders,  or 
Beef  Eaters,  as  they  are  called,  were  made  familiar 
to  Americans  by  Gilbert  and  Sullivan's  opera,  "The 
Yeoman  of  the  Guard." 

Most  Londoners  are  unfamiliar  with  the  Tower, 
which  gives  a  series  of  object  lessons  in  English 
history  more  striking  than  any  pidlures  or  stories. 
Here  are  some  of  the  original  towers  built  bv  the 
Norman  conqueror,  and  in  spite  of  hideous  efforts 
to  modernize  many  of  the  buildings,  one  may  get 
from  the  white  Tower  the  best  idea  of  Norman  ar- 


[132] 


History  Seen  in  Tower  of  London 

chitedure.  It  is  a  great  pity  that  all  the  old  towers 
were  not  preserved,  but  as  it  is,  here  are  the  relics 
of  English  history  trom  the  time  of  Norman  Wil- 
liam down  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
when  the  last  execution  took  place  in  the  Tower 
grounds.  Originally  planned  as  a  palace  and  a  place 
of  defense  against  uprisings  oi  the  people,  the  Tower 
finally  became  simply  a  gloomy  prison  and  torture 
house,  where  many  of  the  greatest  of  England's 
nobility  were  put  to  a  shametul  death. 

The  Plantaganet  and  the  Tudor  kings  and 
queens  seem  very  near  to  us  when  we  see  in  the 
Tower  the  adiual  reminders  of  their  power  and  their 
cruelty.  Henry  VHI  gave  many  heads  to  the 
block,  including  the  wives  of  whom  he  tired  very 
speedily.  His  daughter  Elizabeth,  who  spent  some 
of  her  girlhood  in  this  gloomy  tower,  was  almost 
equally  industrious  in  lopping  off  the  heads  of 
those  who  defied  her  autocratic  will.  Here  are 
relics  of  all  these  sovereigns,  as  well  as  of  the  vic- 
tims of  their  hatred  and  fear.  The  most  impressive 
objedl  in  the  Tower  is  the  huge  Traitors'  Gate, 
which  in  early  days  was  the  only  means  of  entering 
the  Tower  from  the  river.  The  gate  was  always 
partly  covered  with  water  and  the  prisoners  were 
brought  up  to  the  steps  in  front  of  the  bloody 
Tower.  The  old  steps  which  were  trod  by  many  of 
the  most  famous  men  and  women  in  English  his- 
tory may  still  be  seen  under  their  modern  stone 
facings.  Another  impressive  sight  is  the  stone 
which  marks  the  scaffold  and  block  on  Tower  Hill, 
above  the  prison,  where  London's  thousands  gath- 
ered to  see  illustrious  victims  hanged  or  beheaded. 

It  is  most  unfortunate  that  the  Tower  should 
not  have  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  real  antiqua- 
rians and  thus  preserved  for  us  as  one  of  the  best 

[133] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
relics  of  Norman  England.  The  spirit  of  restora- 
tion in  ignorant  hands  has  spoilt  much  of  the 
beauty  and  value  of  these  priceless  remains  of  Eng- 
lish history.  Shakespeare  in  several  of  his  historical 
plays  and  Scott  in  'The  Fortunes  of  Nigel  and  in 
P ever il  of  the  Peak  have  given  brief  glimpses  of  the 
Tower.  The  touch  of  the  great  Scotch  romancer 
adds  much  to  our  interest  and  serves  to  restore  the 
real  atmosphere  of  this  grim  place  of  torture  and 
death;  but  the  illusion  is  difficult  to  retain  because 
of  the  stupid  attempts  at  modernization  which  have 
converted  many  of  the  most  interesting  smaller 
towers  into  quarters  for  the  guards,  and  thus  closed 
them  to  the  public.  An  ugly  modern  building  has 
also  been  ereded  to  provide  quarters  for  guards  and 
other  officials.  It  is  the  same  dense  stupidity  which 
has  put  hideous  iron  roofs  on  some  of  the  old  Fran- 
ciscan Mission  churches  in  California  and  white- 
washed their  age-mellowed  walls. 

On  entering  the  Tower  the  visitor  walks  through 
courts  paved  with  slabs  of  stone,  past  the  Traitors* 
Gate  by  which  state  prisoners  were  taken  from  the 
Thames  to  Wakefield  Tower,  where  are  now  on  ex- 
hibition the  crown  jewels  of  England.  This  display 
is  remarkable,  as  it  includes  the  King's  crown,  which 
contains  no  less  than  twenty-eight  hundred  and 
eighteen  diamonds,  three  hundred  pearls  and  other 
precious  stones.  Among  the  diamonds  is  the  Culli- 
nan.  There  are  other  crowns,  solid  gold  scepters, 
beautifully  decorated  with  gems,  bracelets,  spurs, 
spoons  and  other  objedls,  all  of  great  value.  The 
total  value  of  the  regalia  is  estimated  at  fifteen  mil- 
lion dollars.  From  the  regalia  one  passes  to  the 
main,  or  White  Tower,  which  is  ninety-two  feet 
high,  with  walls  from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  in  thick- 
ness.   In  going  up  the  winding  staircase  built  in  the 

[134] 


History  Seen  in  Tower  of  London 

thick  wall  the  guide  shows  the  place  where  the  two 
skeletons,  supposed  to  be  those  of  the  unfortunate 
princes  murdered  by  Richard  III,  were  found. 

On  the  second  floor  is  the  famous  chapel  of  St. 
John,  with  its  barrel  vaulted  ceiling,  which  experts 
have  pronounced  one  of  the  best  specimens  of  Nor- 
man architecture  that  remains  in  England.  The 
other  rooms  on  this  floor  contain  a  remarkable  col- 
lection of  armor,  the  most  interesting  feature  of 
which  is  the  series  of  fully  armed  knights  on  horse- 
back ready  for  the  tournament.  The  armor  ranges 
from  the  early  Norman,  with  metal  sewn  on  leather, 
to  the  finest  armor  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Per- 
haps the  most  interesting  suit  of  armor  is  that  which 
belonged  to  Henry  VIH.  It  is  much  larger  than 
an  ordinary  suit  and  was  presented  to  that  monarch 
by  the  Emperor  Maximilian.  It  brings  history 
very  close  to  you  when  you  look  upon  the  well 
worn  suit  of  armor  which  belonged  to  the  Earl  of 
Leicester,  the  favorite  of  Queen  Elizabeth. 

In  an  adjoining  room  are  many  instruments  of 
torture,  including  the  thumbscrews  and  the  rack, 
and  a  wooden  block  used  at  the  beheading  of  Lord 
Lovat,  the  last  prisoner  who  was  executed  in  this 
way  in  England.  The  other  Tower  shown  to  visitors 
is  the  Beauchamp  Tower,  the  middle  chamber  of 
which  housed  many  famous  state  prisoners,  who  left 
inscriptions  in  prose  and  verse  on  its  walls.  Among 
these  are  some  ingenious  lines  by  John  Dudley, 
Earl  of  Warwick,  and  an  inscription  by  Philip 
Howard,  Earl  of  Arundel.  Here  Lady  Jane  Grey 
was  confined,  and  on  the  wall  may  be  traced  I-a-n-e, 
supposed  to  represent  her  name.  Most  of  the 
buildings  of  the  Tower  give  the  impression  of  age 
more  vividly  than  any  other  structures  in  London. 

[i3S] 


A  Famous 

Debate  in  the 

Commons 


WHETHER  seen  from  the  river  or  from  the 
shore,  the  Parliament  buildings  are  the 
most  imposing  in  all  London.  Of  late 
Gothic  architecture,  with  two  great  towers,  these 
buildings  with  their  Tudor  wealth  of  decoration, 
never  weary  the  eye.  The  river  frontage  is  nine 
hundred  and  forty  feet,  and  this  enormous  length 
gives  a  certain  flatness  to  the  facade,  but  seen  from 
the  opposite  shore  this  impression  does  not  hold. 
The  north  tower,  nearest  to  Westminster  bridge, 
contains  a  clock  with  four  dials,  each  twenty-three 
feet  in  diameter.  The  great  bell,  known  as  "Big 
Ben,"  weighs  thirteen  tons,  and  it  can  be  heard  over 
all  London. 

It  is  fitting  that  the  only  great  Englishman  to 
be  given  a  place  in  Parliament  square  is  Oliver 
Cromwell,  who  showed  his  contempt  for  the  trap- 
pings of  royalty,  when  he  ordered  the  removal  of 
the  mace  in  the  well-known  words:  "Remove  that 
fools'  bauble!"  Cromwell,  whose  body  was  dug  up 
from  where  it  lay  in  Henry  VI's  chapel  and  thrown 
into  a  pit  at  Tyburn  while  his  head  was  set  up  on 
Westminster  Hall,  now  stands  in  heroic  size  with  a 
lion  at  his  feet  in  the  grass  plot  at  the  entrance  to 
the  Parliament  buildings.  It  gives  an  American  a 
genuine  thrill  to  find  the  great  Commoner  honored 
before  kings,  while  the  weak  monarch  who  treated 


[•36J 


A  Famous  Dkbatp:  in  the  Commons 

the  Proteftor's  body  with  contumely  is  well  nigh 
forgotten.  Cromwell's  is  the  only  statue  that  is  seen 
at  the  entrance  to  the  houses  of  Parliament.  You 
pass  it  as  you  walk  toward  the  magnificent  West- 
minster Hall,  now  used  as  a  vestibule  to  the  houses 
of  Parliament,  but  for  centuries  the  palace  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  and  Norman  Kings.  The  oaken  roof 
with  heavy  beams  and  the  enormous  size  of  the 
room  make  this  the  most  impressive  hall  in  Lon- 
don as  it  is  the  richest  in  historical  interest. 

One  of  the  finest  rooms  in  the  Parliament  build- 
ings is  the  Vi(5loria  gallery,  one  hundred  and  ten  feet 
long,  through  which  the  King  passes  on  his  way  to 
prologue  Parliament.  It  is  very  lofty,  with  richly 
decorated  ceiling  and  lined  with  bronze  statues  of 
English  monarchs. 

Having  procured  an  order  of  admission  to  the 
House  of  Commons  from  the  American  Embassy, 
you  enter  the  hall  that  leads  to  the  lobby.  Visitors 
are  admitted  in  parties  of  ten  every  few  minutes. 
After  passing  up  a  winding  staircase  you  reach  a 
gateway,  where  you  surrender  your  card  and  in- 
scribe your  name  in  a  great  register,  with  your  Lon- 
don address,  nationality  and  sponsor.  Then  you 
pass  up  another  stairway  to  the  gallery,  where  three 
rows  of  seats  at  the  back  of  the  house  are  reserved 
for  visitors.  Unless  you  are  on  the  front  row  you 
can  see  only  about  one-half  of  the  house,  which  is 
rectangular,  with  projeding  galleries  on  three  sides. 
On  the  fourth  side  are  the  seats  for  reporters,  and 
behind  these  a  gallerv  with  a  screen,  which  is  the 
only  place  provided  for  women.  Because  of  the 
antics  of  suffragettes,  who  chained  themselves  to 
this  grating  and  then  disturbed  the  proceedings  of 
the  house,  only  female  relatives  of  members  are 
now  admitted.    In  the  middle  of  the  chamber  is  a 

[137] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

large  table,  on  one  side  of  which  are  the  ministerial 
benches  and  on  the  other  the  seats  of  the  opposi- 
tion. There  are  no  desks  and  the  members  seem 
to  be  pretty  badly  crowded  on  long  benches.  On 
the  afternoon  when  I  visited  the  House  about  an 
hour  was  devoted  to  the  answering  of  questions  by 
members  of  the  Government.  These  questions  had 
been  asked  at  the  previous  session  and  they  were 
printed  for  the  convenience  of  members. 

Then  the  coal  strike  bill  was  brought  forward 
and  many  members  flocked  in  from  the  cloakrooms. 
On  the  Government  benches  were  all  the  leaders 
except  Winston  Churchill  and  the  Premier.  Mr. 
Balfour  stalked  in  and  sat  down,  stretching  out  his 
long  legs  and  resting  on  the  small  of  his  back,  ex- 
actly as  the  caricaturists  represent  him.  His  face  is 
florid  and  he  looks  to  be  in  the  pink  of  condition, 
presenting  a  marked  contrast  to  many  of  his  associ- 
ates, who  are  extremely  pallid.  It  is  announced  by 
a  Government  assistant  secretary  that  the  confer- 
ence between  the  coal  miners  and  the  Government 
is  still  on,  but,  in  case  the  Premier  is  needed  to 
make  any  statement,  he  may  be  called.  While  sev- 
eral members  are  declaring  that  they  prefer  to  have 
the  Premier  present,  Mr.  Asquith  walks  in  and 
takes  his  place  by  the  side  of  sharp-featured  Sir 
Rufus  Isaacs,  the  Attorney-General. 

A  hush  falls  on  the  assembly  as  the  Premier, 
after  a  whispered  conference  with  his  lieutenants, 
rises  and  addresses  the  house.  His  face  is  pale  and 
drawn,  and,  with  his  gray  hair  which  is  rapidly  sil- 
vering, he  presents  an  appearance  of  extreme  lassi- 
tude. In  a  clear  voice,  with  no  hesitancy  in  his 
choice  of  words,  he  tells  the  House  of  the  failure 
of  his  attempts  to  secure  any  compromise  between 
the  coal  miners  and  the  owners.    He  dwells  on  the 

[138] 


A  Famous  Debate  in  the  Commons 

unceasing  labors  of  himself  and  his  colleagues  and 
his  voice  breaks  with  emotion  when  he  speaks  of 
his  profound  sorrow  over  the  failure  of  negotiations 
which  he  hoped  would  end  the  disastrous  strike. 
The  House  applauds  with  the  sharp  staccato"  Hear! 
Hear!"  which  has  almost  the  effect  of  a  cheer. 

Then  follows  an  interesting  debate  of  an  hour 
in  which  opposition  and  labor  leaders  define  their 
views.  One  of  the  clearest  speakers  is  Mr.  Bonar- 
Law,  the  opposition  leader,  who,  while  promising 
that  no  attempt  will  be  made  to  check  the  passage 
of  the  measure,  makes  sharp  comment  on  what  he 
regards  as  defeds  of  the  bill.  The  Government 
secretaries  rally  to  its  support  and  then  labor  leaders 
like  Keir-Hardie  and  Ramsey  McDonald  intervene 
and  defend  the  claims  of  the  miners.  Many  sharp 
thrusts  are  made,  but,  aside  from  the  labor  leaders, 
who  talk  like  Americans,  the  majority  of  the 
speakers  are  not  effedive.  As  the  discussion  settles 
down  upon  minor  points  of  the  bill,  I  go  downstairs 
for  a  glimpse  of  the  House  of  Lords. 

In  the  House  of  Peers,  which  is  a  lesser  replica 
of  the  Commons,  without  the  gallery,  a  prosy  dis- 
cussion was  on  concerning  water  rates  in  London. 
Lord  Selborne  was  speaking  in  a  way  that  showed 
he  could  go  on  indefinitely.  There  was  a  thin  repre- 
sentation of  peers  and  a  few  Bishops  with  big  lawn 
sleeves.  On  the  front  bench  was  the  Duke  of  Marl- 
borough, with  one  arm  in  a  sling.  His  thin,  pallid 
face,  with  its  heavy-lidded  eyes  and  weak  mouth, 
never  changed  its  bored  expression.  A  few  minutes 
of  Selborne's  monotonous  talk  was  sufficient  for 
me,  and  I  left  the  place.  The  lobby  was  full  of 
members,  who  evidently  regarded  the  proceedings 
as  unprofitable. 

[139] 


The  British 

Museum  and  Picture 

Galleries 


THE  British  Museum  is  one  of  the  sights 
which  no  tourist  in  London  can  afford  to  ig- 
nore; but,  unfortunately,  when  my  visit  was 
made,  the  authorities  had  closed  the  place  to  the 
general  public  because  of  fear  of  the  suffragettes. 
Through  the  kindness  of  the  first  secretary  of  the 
United  States  Embassy,  I  secured  a  letter  to  the 
diredlor  and  this  gave  me  the  entree  to  the  museum. 
What  interested  me  beyond  anything  else  in  these 
great  colledions  was  the  Elgin  marbles,  which  are 
arranged  in  one  large  room.  These  are  the  statues 
and  bas-reliefs  from  the  pediment  and  the  frieze  of 
the  Parthenon  which  were  bought  by  Lord  Elgin, 
English  Minister  to  Athens,  and  by  him  sold  to 
the  British  Government.  They  are  represented  in 
the  museum  at  Athens  by  plaster  casts,  but  here 
they  arc  seen  in  all  their  original  beauty.  A  few  of 
the  bas-reliefs  are  nearly  perfedl  and  the  whole  col- 
lection represents  Greek  sculpture  at  its  best. 
Whether  Phidias  or  his  pupils  did  this  work  it  has 
never  been  equaled  and  a  study  of  these  figures  of 
gods  and  goddesses,  men  and  horses,  cannot  fail  to 
give  one  a  better  idea  of  the  perfe6lion  of  Greek  art. 
The  Greek  and  Roman  rooms  contain  a  number 
of  original  statues  and  heads  which  are  noteworthy. 
The  finest  statue  in  the  museum  is  the  Demeter 
of  Cnides,  a  seated  figure  with  flowing  robes,  and 


[140] 


British  Museum,  Picture  Galleries 

with  an  expression  of  calmness  and  majesty  that 
keeps  her  aloot  trom  the  world.  It  is  evidently  the 
work  of  Praxiteles  or  of  one  of  his  pupils.  Next  to 
this  in  its  power  of  making  us  realize  the  attitude 
of  the  ancients  toward  lite,  is  the  head  of  Julius 
Caesar,  a  splendid  bit  of  revelation  of  character  in 
marble.  The  Egyptian  rooms  house  a  coUedlion 
second  only  to  the  great  museum  at  Cairo. 

The  other  rooms  give  an  unequaled  survey  of 
the  whole  world,  arranged  in  such  form  that  these 
exhibits  cling  to  the  memory.  As  material  for 
study  the  British  Museum  is  the  ideal  place  in 
Europe.  To  me  there  was  a  special  charm  in  the 
long  lines  of  cases  that  contain  illuminated  books 
and  autographs  and  letters  of  autliors  and  other 
f^imous  people.  Here  are  bits  of  manuscript  by 
many  of  the  famous  authors  of  the  world,  private 
letters,  and  specimens  of  early  book-making.  In 
these  long  galleries  one  who  loves  literature  may 
lose  all  count  of  time  for  many  happy  hours. 

The  main  reading-room  affords  an  opportunity 
for  study  which  is  furnished  in  no  other  city  in  the 
world.  Here  the  student  may  have  access  to  the 
finest  working  reference  library  in  the  world  under 
conditions  which  make  research  a  pleasure.  The 
circular  hall  has  a  dome  of  glass  and  iron  that  is 
one  hundred  and  forty  feet  in  diameter,  two  feet 
larger  than  the  dome  of  St.  Peter's,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  six  feet  high.  Here  four  hundred  and 
fifty-eight  readers  may  work,  each  having  a  folding 
desk, a  book-shelf,  pens,  ink  and  paper.  The  library 
from  which  the  student  may  draw  contains  over  two 
million  volumes  and  it  is  increasing  at  the  rate  of 
fifty  thousand  volumes  a  year. 

London  is  rich  in  coJleftions  of  paintings  and 
other  works  of  art,  and  if  one  has  not  seen  the  gal- 

f'4t] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

leries  of  Italy  he  can  get  a  very  good  idea  of  these 
from  the  art  galleries  of  London.  The  National 
Gallery,  housed  in  a  great  building  opposite  Trafal- 
gar Square,  is  the  most  important.  Here  the  paint- 
ings of  various  nations  are  arranged  according  to 
schools,  which  makes  it  valuable  to  the  student  of 
art.  The  most  remarkable  pidure  in  the  gallery  is 
Raphael's  "Madonna  degli  Ansidei,"  which  was  pur- 
chased by  the  British  Government  from  the  Duke 
of  Marlborough  for  three  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars.  To  my  mind  it  stands  next  in  color- 
ing and  composition  to  the  "Transfiguration  "in  the 
Vatican.  Of  the  other  pidures  by  Italian  masters 
the  finest  is  "The  Family  of  Darius  at  the  feet  of 
Alexander  the  Great,"  by  Paul  Veronese.  The 
coloring  is  richer  than  that  of  any  of  this  master's 
works  in  Florence  or  Venice.  Flemish,  German 
and  British  art  is  also  represented  by  a  long  roll  of 
masterpieces. 

Other  colledlions  which  contain  many  fine  pic- 
tures are  the  Tate  Gallery  and  the  Wallace  collec- 
tion. In  the  Tate  there  are  noteworthy  colledions 
of  the  work  of  Turner  and  George  Frederick  Watts. 
Here  the  student  may  have  an  excellent  opportun- 
ity to  study  the  paintings  of  the  artist  whom  Rus- 
kin  put  at  the  head  of  modern  painters.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  few  will  agree  with  Ruskin  in  this  esti- 
mate, for  Turner's  work  has  not  stood  the  test  of 
time.  Much  of  the  brilliant  coloring  has  faded  and 
many  of  the  devices  which  he  adopted  to  produce 
striking  efFeds  are  seen  to  be  Inartistic. 

The  finest  pidlure  here  Is  "The  Fighting  Temer- 
alre  Towed  to  Her  Last  Berth."  The  best  pidure 
in  the  Watt's  colledlon  Is  "Love  and  Life,"  which  Is 
so  familiar  through  reprodudlons  in  photographs 
and  engravings. 

[H2] 


The  Main  Facade  of  Westminster  Abbey,  London,  With  the 

Two  Ugly  Towers  Built  by  Sir  Christopher  Wren.     In  the  Square 

in  Front  is  a  Monument  to  Those  Who  Fell  in  the  Indian 

Mutiny  and  the  Crimean  War 


British  Museum,  Picture  Galleries 

The  South  Kensington  Museum  contains  an 
enormous  colle(ition  of  works  illustrating  decorative 
and  applied  art.  i'o  walk  through  the  various  rooms 
takes  more  than  four  hours  and  even  a  superficial 
examination  of  the  exhibits  will  consume  more  than 
an  entire  day. 

The  Wallace  colledion  is  in  Hertford  House, 
the  home  of  the  fourth  Marquis  Hertford,  the  dis- 
reputable old  lord  who  was  the  original  of  Thack- 
eray's Marquis  of  Steyne  in  Vanity  Fair.  The 
house  afterward  passed  into  the  hands  of  Sir  Rich- 
ard Wallace,  who  gathered  the  art  works  which  his 
widow  bequeathed  to  the  British  nation.  The  gallery 
is  noteworthy  for  its  colledion  of  French,  Dutch 
and  Flemish  paintings  and  for  its  examples  of 
French  sculpture  and  furniture,  Sevres  porcelain, 
enamels  and  ivories.  London  has  many  other  col- 
led:ions  of  pidlures  and  regular  exhibitions  are  held 
in  the  spring  at  the  opening  of  the  season. 

A  month  could  be  spent  with  profit  in  a  careful 
study  of  London  and  its  suburbs  and  at  the  end  of 
that  time  much  would  remain  unvisited.  The  city 
is  so  vast  and  so  much  of  English  history  is  recorded 
in  its  streets  and  buildings,  its  monuments  and  its 
squares,  that  a  residence  of  months  would  not  ex- 
haust its  objedts  of  interest. 


['43] 


Literary 

Shrines  and  Haunts  in 

London 


To  anyone  of  strong  literary  tastes  London 
is  rich  in  the  homes  and  haunts  of  famous 
English  writers.  Much  that  is  mentioned 
in  the  guide-books  is  worthless,  as  it  represents  lit- 
erary fame  commercialized,  or  famous  memorials  of 
literary  genius  that  are  not  genuine.  Thus  it  is  im- 
possible to  get  any  thrill  from  the  Johnson  corner 
in  the  Cheshire  Cheese  on  the  Strand,  because  there 
is  no  proof  that  the  bench  and  the  table  shown  for 
a  shilling  are  really  those  used  by  the  Dod:or  when 
he  laid  down  the  law  to  Goldsmith,  Garrick  and 
others.  Nor  does  the  Cock  restaurant  appeal  to 
one  because  Tennyson  wrote  a  rather  poor  poem 
to  the**plump  head  waiter"  there. 

But  what  is  of  the  deepest  interest  are  the  houses 
and  the  streets  that  are  associated  with  the  English 
writers  whom  we  love.  Thus  I  spent  several  happy 
hours  in  the  Temple  grounds  in  identifying  the 
chamber  in  Brick  Court  where  Goldsmith  worked 
during  his  last  years,and  the  staircase,  which  when  he 
lay  dead  in  the  room  above,  was  filled  with  weeping 
women  whom  he  had  helped.  Across  the  paved 
court  is  Goldsmith's  grave  by  the  side  of  the 
Temple  Church,  where  you  may  hear  some  of  the 
best  organ  music  and  choir  singing  in  London.  In 
this  same  building,  No.  i  Brick  Court,  Thackeray 
lived  for  a  time  before  fame  came  to  him,  and  in 


[H4] 


Literary  Shrines  in  London 
the  neighboring  Pump  Court,Fieldinghad  chambers. 
The  only  genuine  reHc  of  Shakespeare  in  Lon- 
don is  old  St.  Olave's  churchyard  in  Silver  street. 
In  the  church,  which  was  swept  away  by  the  great 
fire,  Shakespeare  witnessed  the  marriage  of  the 
young  daughter  of  Christopher  Mountjoy,  a  wig- 
maker,  with  whom  the  dramatist  lived  over  the  little 
shop  at  the  corner  of  Silver  and  Monkwell  streets, 
diredly  across  from  the  churchyard.  An  old  tav- 
ern,"The  Cooper's  Arms,"  now  stands  on  this 
corner.  The  court  records  show  that  Shakespeare 
was  a  witness  in  a  lawsuit  brought  against  Mountjoy 
by  his  son-in-law  to  recover  the  dowry  which  he  had 
promised  to  give  to  his  daughter.  This  was  in 
1612,  and  this  record  goes  far  to  cast  doubt  on  the 
accepted  fadl  that  Shakespeare  spent  the  last  years 
of  his  life  at  Stratford.  It  is  certain  that  he  wrote 
in  this  house  over  Mountjoy's  shop,  Othello.,  Mac- 
beth and  King  Lear,  which  makes  this  a  literary 
shrine  of  the  first  importance. 

Not  far  away  down  Cheapside  is  the  site  of  the 
famous  Mermaid  Tavern  where  Shakespeare  spentso 
many  hours  with  Ben  Jonson,  Beaumont,  Fletcher, 
Dekker,  Raleigh  and  other  choice  spirits.  This  tav- 
ern lay  direftly  on  Shakespeare's  way  from  his 
lodgings  to  Thames  street,  where  he  took  boat  to 
the  Globe  Theatre  on  Bankside.  Not  a  stone  re- 
mains of  the  Globe  Theatre,  but  near  by  is  St. 
Saviour's  Cathedral,  in  the  churchyard  of  which 
were  buried  Shakespeare's  youngest  brother,  Ed- 
mund, a  player,  as  well  as  Fletcher  and  Massinger. 
Cheapside,  now  given  over  to  trade,  was  in  Shakes- 
peare's day  the  favorite  haunt  of  writers  and  players, 
and  even  in  the  last  century  Keats  lived  in  rooms 
in  Bird-in-Hand  Court,  where  he  wrote  one  of  his 
finest  sonnets  on  Chapman's  Homer. 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

Anyone  who  loves  De  Quincey  will  always  as- 
sociate him  with  "stony-hearted"  Oxford  street, 
which  witnessed  the  tragedy  of  poor  Anne  and  his 
fruitless  search  for  the  girl  of  the  underworld  who 
saved  his  life  by  her  prompt  aid.  "The  Confessions 
of  an  English  Opium  Eater  are  full  of  vivid  piftures 
of  London  and  with  little  trouble  one  may  identify 
the  shabby  house  in  Green  street,  Soho,  where  the 
runaway  boy  shared  cold  and  hunger  with  the  poor 
little  girl  in  the  empty  house  of  the  disreputable 
lawyer.  Hazlitt  and  Shelley  also  lived  in  Soho  and 
their  places  of  residence  may  be  identified. 

Chelsea  is  probably  the  district  in  London  that 
will  appeal  most  strongly  to  the  American  literary 
pilgrim,  for  a  score  of  famous  authors  made  this 
pleasant  suburb  their  home.  Chief  among  these 
was  Carlyle  whose  home  for  nearly  fifty  years  was 
in  the  simple  three-story  house  at  No.  5  Cheyne 
Row.  This  house  has  now  been  set  aside  as  a 
national  museum,  and  it  is  of  exceptional  interest 
because  everything  has  been  left  exa6tly  as  it  was 
in  the  days  when  the  author  of  The  French  Revolu- 
tion demonstrated  here  the  value  of  plain  living  and 
high  thinking.  Few  Londoners  make  the  pilgrim- 
age to  Carlyle's  house;  most  of  the  visitors  are  Amer- 
icans. It  is  a  long  ride  by  auto  bus,  but  the  traveler 
is  rewarded  by  the  spectacle  of  this  pretty  village 
by  the  side  of  the  Thames,  and  the  quaint  old  house 
in  which  was  written  some  of  the  most  inspiring  of 
modern  English  prose. 

Carlyle  himself  described  the  house  when  he 
was  moving  in  in  1834  as  "eminent,  antique,  wains- 
coted to  the  very  ceiling;  broadish  stair,  with  a 
massive  balustrade  in  the  old  style,  corniced  and  as 
thick  as  one's  thigh;  floors  as  thick  as  a  rock,  wood 
of  them  here  and  there  worm-eaten,  yet  capable  of 

[.46] 


Literary  Shrines  in  London 

cleanliness  and  still  with  thrice  the  strength  of  a 
modern  floor."  This  prophecy  proved  true  for  the 
old  floors  and  the  staircase  still  remain  as  testimony 
to  the  honesty  of  the  builder.  The  garden  at  the 
back,  which  in  Carlyle's  day  looked  out  on  pleasant 
fields,  is  now  shut  in  by  neighboring  wails,  but  it  is 
sunny  and  quiet  and  it  brings  old  Carlyle  nearer  to 
you  than  anything  in  the  house. 

A  woman  care-taker  shows  real  interest  in  the 
relics  and  allowed  me  to  look  at  the  books  in  the 
locked  cases  and  to  spend  much  time  in  these  rooms 
whose  record  of  tremendous  work  may  be  found  in 
Froude's  Forty  Tears  in  London.  The  dining-room 
in  the  basement  contains  many  souvenirs  of  Carlyle, 
the  most  interesting  of  which  are  letters  and  bits  of 
manuscript.  Back  of  this  room  is  the  large  kitchen 
where  he  and  Tennyson  used  to  sit  and  smoke  in 
the  evening.  In  the  drawing-room  on  the  street 
floor  are  many  literary  curiosities  including  the 
Prussian  Order  of  Merit  and  Carlyle's  correspond- 
ence with  Goethe,  Bismarck  and  other  famous  men; 
the  offer  of  a  baronetcy  by  Disraeli  and  Carlyle's 
dignified  refusal;  notes  for  many  books,  including  a 
carefully  written  copy  of  the  translation  of  Goethe's 
Mason  s  Song.  Conneding  with  this  room  is  the 
bedroom  of  Mrs.  Carlyle,  where  she  spent  so  many 
unhappy  hours  worrying  over  such  imaginary  woes 
as  her  husband's  infatuation  for  the  brilliant  Lady 
Ashburton.  On  the  floor  above  are  Carlyle's  bed- 
room and  the  spare  room  where  Emerson  slept 
when  he  made  his  pilgrimage  to  the  home  of  the 
man  whose  work  he  had  done  so  much  to  make 
known  to  Americans.  On  the  top  floor  is  the  sound- 
proof room  which  Carlyle  had  constructed  so  that 
he  could  be  free  from  all  noise  of  the  outside  world. 
Here  he  wrote  Frederick  The  Greats  but  the  chamber 

[•47] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

proved  to  be  so  hot  in  summer  and  so  cold  in 
winter  that  Carlyle  was  forced  to  abandon  it.  One 
of  the  most  interesting  relics  is  the  cast  of  Carlyle's 
hands,  slender,  delicate,  but  suggesting  great  mus- 
cular strength,  and  the  cast  of  the  head  with  the 
tremendous  reach  from  ear  to  ear. 

At  the  end  of  Cheyne  Row  is  a  little  square,  in 
which  is  a  seated  statue  of  Carlyle  looking  out  on 
the  river,  and  "the  still  country  where  at  last  we  and 
our  loved  ones  shall  be  together  again."  Nearby 
in  Cheyne  Walk  are  the  houses  where  George  Eliot 
died,  and  where  Leigh  Hunt,  Rossetti,  Swinburne, 
Meredith,  Whistler  and  Turner  lived.  Whistler's 
house  at  No.  96  Cheyne  Walk  is  noteworthy,  as 
here  he  painted  the  fine  portrait  of  Carlyle  and  the 
picture  of  his  mother,  his  greatest  works. 

The  houses  in  London  which  have  sheltered 
literary  genius  are  many,  but  perhaps  Americans  are 
most  interested  in  those  associated  with  Dickens 
and  Thackeray.  Both  moved  frequently,  so  that 
there  is  no  place  which  speaks  of  them  as  Carlyle's 
house  does  of  him.  Many  of  the  haunts  of  Dickens 
may  be  identified  as  well  as  the  originals  of  places 
that  he  mentions  in  his  books.  One  of  these  is  the 
corner  store,  the  original  of  Old  Curiosity  Shop.  In 
Doughty  street  and  Devonshire  Square  are  houses 
in  which  Dickens  wrote  some  of  his  best  work  and 
his  novels  are  full  of  vivid  descriptions  of  London. 
Thackeray's  home  at  No.  16  Young  street,  Ken- 
sington, is  noteworthy  as  the  scene  of  the  writing  of 
Vanity  Fair^  which  brought  him  tardy  fame.  He  died 
at  No.  1  Palace  Green,  Kensington,  on  Christmas 
Eve,  and  his  passing  saddened  thousands  who  had 
learned  to  love  him,  "because  his  heart  was  tender 
as  is  the  heart  of  a  woman." 

[148] 


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PLATE    LV 

Carlvle's  House  in  Cheyne  Row,  Chelsea.   Here  in  This 

Plain  Brick  House  the  Author  Lived  From  1824  Until  His  Death 

in  1 88 1.    It  is  a  Museum  of  Cariyle  Relics  and  Manuscripts, 

One  of  the  Most  Interesting   Places  in  London,  Yet  Most 

Londoners  Have  Never  Seen  It.     The  Majority  of 

Visitors  Are  Americans 


PLATE   L\  I 

The  Garden  of  Carlyle's  House.    A  Sheltered, 

Sunny  Place,  With  One  Old  Beech  Tree  and  Vines  on  the 

High  Brick  Walls.     Here  Carlyle  Loved  to  Sit 

and  Smoke  and  Think  Out  His  Books 


NEW  YORK,  THE 

SKY-SCRAPING  MARVEL  OF 

THE  NEW  WORLD 


Impressions 

OF  New  York  After 

Seven  Years 


THE  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  from  Liver- 
pool to  New  York  was  uneventful.  My 
steamer  was  the  Baltic  which  was  followed 
by  the  ill-fated  Titanic.  Few  icebergs  were  seen, 
but  slow  time  was  made  through  the  great  New 
Foundland  fog-belt. 

The  first  sight  of  the  Statue  of  Liberty  in  New 
York  harbor  and  of  the  ships  flying  the  Stars  and 
Stripes,  looks  very  good  to  the  man  who  has 
scarcely  seen  an  American  flag  since  he  left  home, 
seven  months  before.  Then  comes  that  awe-inspir- 
ing skyline  of  New  York,  which  is  changed  by 
every  new  skyscraper-a  spedlacle  more  impressive 
than  anything  that  can  be  seen  in  Europe.  This 
skyline  is  as  rugged  and  looms  as  dark  and  menac- 
ing against  the  clear  blue  background  as  a  moun- 
tain wall  of  the  high  Sierra.  Each  skyscraper  repre- 
sents a  distind  peak  that  rises  above  the  high  table- 
land made  by  the  mass  of  ordinary  buildings,  which 
a  few  years  ago  were  regarded  as  lofty  structures. 
A  new  and  loftier  peak  has  risen  and  swims  into  the 
ken  of  the  new  arrival  who  has  not  seen  New  York 
for  several  seasons.  This  is  the  towering  Wool- 
worth  building,  which  rises  a  full  twenty  stories 
above  its  loftv  neighbors. 

Nothing  in  the  Old  World  can  compare  for  im- 
pressiveness  with  this  skyline,  which  is  the   huge, 

['5'] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

Cyclopean  finger-print  of  commerce  against  the  sky 
of  the  New  World.  It  is  a  fitting  introduction  to  a 
city  which  is  as  unique  as  Venice  or  Florence. 

When  one  passes  through  the  canyons  of  lower 
New  York,  into  which  the  many  narrow  streets  have 
been  converted  by  cliff-like  skyscrapers,  it  seems 
almost  incredible  that  only  twenty-four  years  ago 
the  first  of  these  distinftively  American  buildings 
was  eredled,  in  the  face  of  bitter  opposition  and  pes- 
simistic criticism.  This  pioneer  structure  was  the 
Tower  building  on  Lower  Broadway,  ereded  on  a 
lot  only  twenty-one  and  a  half  feet  wide.  The  build- 
ing was  thirteen  stories  high,  or  about  one  hundred 
and  sixty  feet.  The  steel  frame  was  to  bear  all  the 
weight  and  the  inclosing  walls  were  to  be  only 
twelve  inches  thick.  All  New  York  was  aroused 
over  what  conservative  architefts  denounced  as  a 
dangerous  innovation,  which  would  result  in  seri- 
ous disaster.  As  it  happened,  the  archited,  Brad- 
ford Lee  Gilbert,  was  able  to  demonstrate  the 
stability  of  his  plan  at  the  outset.  A  hurricane  blew 
on  the  day  following  the  completion  of  the  steel 
frame.  Thousands  gathered  to  watch  the  fall  of  the 
new  stru6lure,  but  it  was  not  disturbed.  That  suc- 
cess led  to  the  transformation  of  lower  New  York. 

Now  it  looks  as  though  the  skyscraper  was 
destined  to  swarm  over  all  Manhattan  Island,  for 
away  up  in  Harlem,  where  only  a  few  years  ago  the 
land  was  covered  by  the  shacks  of  squatters,  are 
rising  huge  apartment  houses  of  fifteen  and  twenty 
stories,  of  the  most  ornate  architedlure,  and  with 
appointments  so  elaborate  that  the  yearly  rental  of 
an  apartment  of  eight  or  ten  rooms  amounts  to 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars. 

New  York  has  scores  of  great  edifices,  some  on 
small  side  streets,  which  are  gems  of  architedural 

[152] 


Impressions  of  New  York 

beauty.  All  along  Broadway  and  Fifth  Avenue  one 
catches  glimpses  of  these  buildings,  which  are  worth 
careful  observation,  as  specimens  ot  the  art  of  adapt- 
ing the  styles  and  methods  of  other  ages  and  other 
lands  to  our  needs.  It  is  the  boldness  and  original- 
ity of  the  American  architeft  in  this  work  that  will 
appeal  to  any  person  who  has  made  a  study  of  the 
problems  of  this  art.  There  is  far  less  of  the  con- 
ventional in  the  work  of  our  architeds  than  in  that 
of  English  artists,  and  the  result  is  that  the  new 
buildings  in  New  York  please  one  far  more  than 
those  of  London. 

Henry  James,  after  many  years  of  absence  in 
Europe,  returned  a  few  years  ago  to  find  New  York 
what  he  called  hideous,  because  of  the  skyscrapers 
and  the  encroachment  of  business  as  far  up  Fifth 
Avenue  as  Central  Park.  What  he  failed  to  take 
into  consideration  was  that  New  York  above  every- 
thing else  is  a  business  city,  not  a  city  of  homes 
like  Philadelphia.  Commerce  is  writ  large  on  its 
skyscrapers,  on  its  streets  and  in  its  subways.  All 
other  considerations  have  had  to  give  way  to  this 
insistent  demand  for  space  for  the  great  dynamos 
that  move  the  business  of  the  whole  country.  Yet 
with  all  this  strenuous  clamor  for  the  swift  and 
most  economical  transaction  of  trade,  Henry  James 
could  have  seen  much  beauty  had  his  eyes  not  been 
blind  to  the  manv  things  that  make  this  one  of  the 
most  attradive  cities  in  the  world. 

The  Pennsylvania  Railroad  depot  is  a  massive 
building  which  satisfies  the  eye.  Its  most  striking 
feature  is  the  main  waiting-room,  three  hundred 
and  fifteen  feet  long,  one  hundred  and  eight  feet 
wide  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  high,  the  larg- 
est and  most  imposing  room  in  the  world.  This 
room  is  purely  ornamental,  as  it  does  not  contain  a 

['S3] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

single  seat.    Another  feature  of  the  building  is  the 

long  arcade  of  shops,  which  contain  everything  that 

a  traveler  needs.    This  depot  cost  one  hundred  and 

thirteen  million  dollars.    The   New  York   Central 

depot  cost  one   hundred  and  fifty   million  dollars 

and  is  the  most  complete  railroad   terminal  in  the  « 

world,  with  depressed  tracks  and  trains  run  from  j 

the  suburbs  by  electricity .    Its  architediure  is  fully 

as  fine  as  that  of  the  Pennsylvania  depot. 

The  most  striking  of  the  new  buildings  in  New 
York  is  the  Woolworth  building  on  Broadway, just 
opposite  the  new  Municipal  building.  This  build- 
ing, which  rises  seven  hundred  and  fifty  feet  above 
the  street  level,  is  the  result  of  the  profits  of  a  score 
of  years  of  the  pioneer  in  the  five  and  ten  cent 
stores.  With  its  fifty-seven  stories  this  strudure  so 
dominates  everything  in  the  vicinity  that  even  the 
huge  Municipal  buildings  are  dwarfed,  and  sky- 
scrapers that  a  few  years  ago  were  regarded  as  colos- 
sal now  look  like  pygmies.  The  building  has  twenty- 
eight  elevators,  and  one  whole  floor  is  given  up  to 
a  dining-club. 

One  of  the  finest  of  the  new  buildings  is  the 
Public  Library,  formed  by  the  union  of  the  Astor, 
the  Lenox  and  the  Free  Public  Libraries.  It  stands 
on  Fifth  avenue  at  Forty-second  street  on  the  lot 
so  long  occupied  by  the  city  reservoir.  The  archi- 
tedlure  is  noble  and  impressive,  the  interior  arrange- 
ments are  admirable,  the  mural  decorations  are  fine 
and  appropriate,  but  there  is  no  statuary,  except  the 
two  badly  designed  lions  that  guard  the  main  en- 
trance. Such  a  building  abroad  would  have  noble 
statues  at  the  entrance  and  on  every  stair  landing.  | 

Strip  the  public  buildings  of  Rome,  or  Florence,  or  " 

Paris  of  their  statuary  and  you  would  rob  them  of 
the  greater  part  of  their  impressiveness. 

[154] 


Barbaric 

Display  of  Wealth  on 

Fifth  Avenue 


IN  New  York  the  one  thing  that  impresses  you, 
especially  if  you  are  fresh  from  the  cities  of  the 
Old  World,  is  the  unlikeness  of  the  place  to 
any  other.  Here  traditions  of  the  Old  World  are 
thrown  aside  as  useless  lumber.  Here  for  the  first 
time  we  have  a  city  which  has  absolutely  no  uni- 
formity in  any  of  its  salient  features,  yet  is  more 
interesting  than  Paris  or  London,  because  it  con- 
stantly piques  curiosity  and  arouses  wonder  or  an- 
tagonism. You  cannot  be  indifferent  to  New  York; 
you  cannot  even  rest  in  this  great  human  hive  that 
is  always  humming  with  eager  life.  If  you  stay  in 
your  room  the  hoarse  roar  of  the  street  comes  up 
and  grips  you  by  the  throat;  it  is  useless  to  try  to 
escape  its  compelling  force.  Before  you  know  it 
you  are  out  on  the  street  and  in  the  thick  of  this 
strenuous  life  that  goes  to  your  head  like  strong 
wine.  You  set  your  pace  by  the  moving  throng  be- 
side you,  and  it  is  the  pace  that  kills.  Before  the 
day  is  over  you  are  lucky  if  you  escape  blistered 
feet  and  aching  limbs  that  make  you  feel  as  though 
you  had  taken  a  twenty-mile  tramp  over  rough 
country. 

What  there  is  in  this  ardent  city  life  that  saps 
the  vitality  of  the  stranger  is  a  mystery,  but  anyone 
who  comes  to  New  York  from  quieter  places  will 
agree   with    me   that   three  days  in  the   American 


[■55] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 

metropolis  are  more  exhausting  than  two  weeks  in 
London.  Whatever  the  cause,  it  requires  long  resi- 
dence to  save  one  from  the  tendency  to  walk  too 
far  and  too  much,  and  to  share  too  freely  in  the 
hustling  spirit  of  the  ever-moving  crowds. 

Impressive  is  the  spedacle  of  the  crowded  streets. 
Here  are  lesser  crowds  than  in  London,  but  in 
some  way  these  crowds  suggest  a  more  tumultuous 
life,  a  greater  eagerness  for  work,  a  fiercer  desire  for 
display,  a  more  intense  existence.  Here  too  are 
more  striking  contrasts  between  rich  and  poor  than 
London  can  furnish.  On  Fifth  avenue  and  Broad- 
way colossal  wealth  seems  to  be  hurled  in  your  face; 
you  can't  escape  it.  In  the  elaborate  automobile 
turnouts;  in  the  extravagant  costumes  and  the  price- 
less jewels  of  the  women  who  look  at  you  with  the 
cold  eyes  of  disdain,  as  though  they  asked  why  any 
except  the  possessors  of  many  millions  should  invade 
these  sacred  haunts  of  wealth;  in  the  shops  where 
no  one  of  moderate  means  would  dream  of  enter- 
ing to  buy  what  is  reserved  for  the  plutocrat;  in 
the  obsequiousness  of  all  who  come  in  contaft  with 
this  class-in  all  these  the  stranger  who  has  not  seen 
New  York  for  some  years  feels  this  insistent  de- 
mand of  great  wealth  that  it  be  recognized  with 
more  honor  than  is  given  abroad  to  crowned  heads 
and  ancient  lineage. 

And  yet  a  walk  often  minutes  from  this  dis- 
play of  colossal  wealth  will  take  one  to  the  haunts 
of  such  extreme  poverty  and  misery  as  may  be  seen 
in  no  city  of  the  Old  World.  On  the  East  Side  of 
New  York,  in  the  crowded  tenement  buildings,  in 
the  unspeakable  sweat-shops,  where  the  life  of  thou- 
sands is  slowly  sapped;  in  the  reek  and  squalor  of 
the  crowded  streets,  where  the  children  of  the  poor 
never  have  a  chance  for  normal   development  of 

['S6] 


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Barbaric  Display  of  Wealth 

body  or  mind;  in  the  great  breeding  houses  of  vice 
and  crime,  where  whole  taniilies  live  in  a  single 
room  and  then  take  in  boarders  and  lodgers;  in  the 
saloons  that  wink  their  evil  eyes  from  every  corner 
and  to  which  women  and  children  are  slyly  admitted; 
in  the  swirl  of  painted  harlots,  plying  their  ancient 
trade  openly  and  unashamed-in  all  these  features 
of  East  Side  tenement  lite  in  New  York,  one  may 
find  the  gravest  indictment  of  the  luxurious  life  of 
the  very  rich.  These  never  give  a  thought  to  the 
thousands  who  are  swarming  into  this  country  from 
all  parts  of  the  earth,  and  who  are  paying  for  the 
privilege  by  having  all  that  is  good  and  pure  beaten 
out  of  their  lives  by  the  mere  animal  struggle  for 
existence. 

Ifyouarein  New  York  any  time  during  the 
summer  or  fall  take  a  walk  down  through  Hester, 
Orchard,  Ludlow,  Catherine  and  others  of  these 
tenement  streets,  and  see  with  your  own  eyes  this 
unspeakable  misery  and  degradation,  which  is  the 
worst  indictment  of  our  system  of  city  government. 
It  is  not  as  though  these  people  did  not  work. 
They  labor  like  galley  slaves  until  far  into  the 
night;  they  have  no  comforts,  yet  they  never  escape 
from  the  edge  of  the  abyss  of  poverty  and  actual 
starvation.  They  are  in  the  same  evil  state  as  the 
victims  of  the  loan  sharks:  the  harder  they  work  the 
deeper  they  sink  into  the  quick-sand  of  debt.  It  is 
because  all  the  necessaries  of  life  cost  them  ten  times 
as  much  as  they  cost  those  who  are  able  to  buy  in 
larger  quantities,  and  also  because  they  have  no 
judgment  in  spending  their  small  earnings. 

New  York  has  too  many  fine  sights  to  make  it 
wise  to  spend  very  much  time  in  the  tenement 
quarter.  Take  Fifth  avenue,  for  example,  which,  to 
me,  is  far  more  impressive  than  the  finest  residence 

['57] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
quarter  of  London,  because  here  the  wealth  is 
massed  and  concentrated.  Park  Lane  and  Hyde 
Park  Place  in  London  give  one  the  impression  of 
wealth  that  has  been  handed  down  for  ages,  until 
the  present  possessors  are  unconscious  of  it;  but 
these  splendid  homes  of  great  wealth  are  few  in 
number,  whereas,  in  New  York  there  are  miles  of 
imposing  houses,  each  of  which  requires  the  income 
of  a  multi-millionaire  to  keep  it  up.  Many  of  these 
houses  are  flamboyant  in  architecture  and  are  furn- 
ished regardless  of  all  that  is  genuinely  artistic;  but 
taken  in  mass  they  have  the  same  effed:  upon  the 
beholder  as  the  endless  rows  of  skyscrapers  in  lower 
New  York.  They  force  upon  you  this  idea  of  enor- 
mous wealth  from  which  there  is  no  escape. 

And  this  impression  of  vast  wealth  is  thrust 
upon  you  again  on  Fifth  avenue  on  such  occasions 
as  the  Easter  fashion  show,  which,  though  it  has 
now  degenerated  largely  into  a  rivalry  of  great  dress- 
making establishments,  is  still  one  of  the  spring 
sights  of  the  city,  which  draws  thousands  from  all 
parts  of  the  country.  On  this  noble  avenue,  which 
has  now  ample  sidewalk  space  from  Twenty-third 
street  to  the  park  at  Fifty-ninth  street,  great  crowds 
gather  a  full  hour  before  the  show.  Then,  when 
the  church  services  are  over,  two  lines  form,  one 
going  up  the  avenue,  the  other  coming  down.  In 
these  lines  are  many  brilliantly-gowned  women, 
who  probably  make  a  braver  show  with  their  ex- 
quisitely-designed garments  than  real  ladies  would 
do.  For  most  of  these  women  are  the  professional 
models  whose  business  it  is  to  show  off  these  gar- 
ments in  the  shops,  and  who  are  seleded  from  many 
thousands  for  their  perfedion  of  form  and  their  grace 
of  carriage.  These  things  wealth  cannot  buy,  and 
there  is  some  satisfadion  in  the  thought  that  the 

[-S8] 


Barbaric  Display  of  Wealth 

daughters  of  the  poor  have  their  innings  in  this 
great  function,  to  which  otherwise  they  would  have 
no  admission. 

Much  of  the  charm  of  Fifth  avenue  is  due,  as 
Arnold  Bennett  says,  to  the  magnificent  cornices, 
which  the  architeds  have  provided  for  these  great 
retail  stores  that  have  taken  the  place  of  the  palaces 
of  millionaires.  These  cornices  furnish  a  fine  sky- 
line and  they  serve  to  bring  out  the  ornamental 
upper  story,  which  is  almost  universal.  The  Italian 
Renaissance  is  the  prevailing  architedhire  of  these 
new  palaces  of  trade.  There  are  infinite  variations 
in  it,  but  its  beauty,  grace  and  lightness  seem  to 
harmonize  with  the  brilliant  blue  of  the  sky  and 
the  limpid  clearness  of  the  atmosphere.  Clubs  and 
hotels  and  the  homes  of  nianv  firms  which  are  known 
all  over  the  country  make  up  this,  the  finest  avenue 
in  the  world.  A  few  of  the  old  residences,  which 
once  gave  the  street  its  prestige,  remain,  but  they 
are  doomed.  A  few  years  will  see  them  transformed 
and  they  will  go  the  way  of  the  others.  The  Vander- 
bilts  still  take  up  one  entire  block  with  the  houses 
which  were  once  celebrated  as  the  finest  in  the  city, 
but  which  are  now  surpassed  by  the  homes  of  men 
who  were  roustabouts  and  miners,  or  brakemen  on 
new  railroads  forty  years  ago,  when  the  Vanderbilt 
houses  were  new. 


[•S9] 


New  York's 

Big  Museum  and  Many 

Parks 


A  MONO  the  things  in  New  York  which  no  one 
/\  should  neglect  is  the  Metropolitan  Museum 
I  \  of  Art  in  Central  Park.  Here  is  a  museum 
designed  in  the  ideal  way  as  a  school  of  art  for  the 
public.  Besides  paintings  of  all  the  great  masters, 
ancient  and  modern,  it  includes  a  large  number  of 
characteristic  works  by  the  best  American  painters. 
George  A.  Hearn  gave  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars,  the  income  of  which  is  applied  to  the 
purchase  of  paintings  by  living  American  artists. 
But  the  feature  of  the  place  which  struck  me  as  the 
most  valuable  from  an  educational  point  of  view 
was  the  colledion  of  plaster  casts  and  models,  now 
one  of  the  largest  in  the  world. 

Besides  plaster  models  of  all  the  great  works  of 
sculpture,  this  colleftion  includes  models  of  the 
architeftural  masterpieces  of  Egypt,  Greece,  Rome 
and  the  modern  world.  Here  are  large  models  of 
the  Hypostile  Hall  at  Karnak,  the  Parthenon  of 
Athens,  the  Pantheon  of  Rome,  and  the  Cathedral 
of  Notre  Dame  in  Paris.  The  latter  especially  is  a 
wonderful  reprodu6lion  of  one  of  the  finest  speci- 
mens of  Gothic  architefture  in  Europe.  It  is  a 
liberal  education  in  art  to  be  able  to  study  these 
models,  which  are  large  enough  to  enable  one  to 
appreciate  all  the  detail  of  each  work.  The  paint- 
ings are  admirably  arranged  for  study. 


[i6o] 


I 


New  York's  Museum  and  Parks 

New  York  is  not  rich  in  parks,  the  largest  be- 
ing Central  Park,  which  has  an  area  ot  eight  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres.  Although  artistically  laid  out 
and  kept  in  wonderful  condition,  the  park  lacks 
pidluresqueness  because  ot  the  general  low  level  of 
the  ground.  There  is  no  height  from  which  one 
may  get  a  general  view;  but  the  drives  are  finely 
arranged  and  the  color  scheme  in  flowers,  vines  and 
trees  could  not  be  improved  upon.  The  finest  of 
the  new  parks  is  the  Riverside  Park,  on  a  high 
ridge  skirting  the  Hudson  and  overlooking  the 
Palisades  and  the  New  Jersey  shore.  The  River- 
side drive  is  the  best  in  New  York.  It  is  a  pity 
certain  restrictions  had  not  been  entorced  on  pur- 
chasers of  these  building  sites,  as  then  a  good  land- 
scape artist  could  have  made  this  drive  the  noblest 
in  the  world.  As  it  is,  it  is  well  worth  careful  atten- 
tion as  a  specimen  of  what  great  wealth  may  accom- 
plish in  a  few  years. 

Many  of  the  old  squares  in  New  York  are  ex- 
tremely pidluresque.  Of  these  the  finest  are  Gra- 
mercy  Park  on  the  East  Side,  once  surrounded  by 
the  homes  of  distinguished  citizens,  but  now  largely 
given  over  to  business  and  manufacture;  and  Wash- 
ington Square,  which  still  preserves  much  of  its  old- 
time  air.  Here  is  the  Washington  Arch  that  is 
more  perfect  than  anv  work  of  its  kind  in  this 
country.  Through  this  arch,  looking  north,  one 
mav  get  a  superb  view  of  the  new  Fifth  avenue. 

Around  Central  Park  the  feature  that  will  im- 
press anvone  who  has  not  seen  New  York  in  sev- 
eral years  is  the  great  increase  in  the  number  of 
colossal  apartment  houses.  These  bulk  enormously 
against  the  skyline,  many  of  them  rising  to  twelve 
or  fifteen  stories  and  having  hundreds  of  rooms, 
leased  at  rentals  as  loftv  as  their  own  towering  roofs. 

[.6.] 


The  Critic  in  the  Occident 
The  tremendous  roar  of  the  elevated  roads  in 
New  York  always  stirs  the  gorge  of  the  foreigner, 
but  the  American,  who  is  more  used  to  noise,  soon 
becomes  accustomed  to  it.  Still,  in  streets  like  Sixth 
avenue  and  the  Bowery,  the  overhead  trains  and 
elediric  surface  cars,  with  gongs  constantly  sounding, 
do  make  a  pandemonium  during  eighteen  hours  of 
the  day.  The  subway  is  the  greatest  convenience  to 
the  visitor,  as  he  may  get  aboard  an  express  train 
at  One  Hundred  and  Fiftieth  street  and  go  to  the 
Battery  in  about  twenty  minutes,  a  ride  which  used 
to  consume  over  an  hour.  These  trains  stop  only 
at  long  intervals  and  run  at  high  speed. 

But  beyond  any  of  the  other  sights  in  New 
York  is  the  people,  who  crowd  all  the  surface,  ele- 
vated and  underground  cars.  It  is  easy  to  distin- 
guish the  New  Yorker  from  the  stranger,  and  it  is 
not  difficult  to  pick  out  the  visitor  from  the  Pa- 
cific Coast,  the  Canadian  or  the  people  from  Chi- 
cago and  the  Mississippi  Valley,  while  the  South- 
erner differs  radically  from  all  the  others  in  dress, 
manners  and  speech.  This  endless  tide  of  humanity 
furnishes  an  interesting  study  of  racial  traits. 

I  have  merely  touched  on  a  few  of  the  sights  of 
New  York,  which  make  it,  despite  its  lack  of  his- 
torical interest,  more  absorbing  than  any  city  of 
Europe.  It  differs  absolutely  from  Rome,  or  Paris, 
or  London;  it  is  newer,  cruder,  if  you  will,  but  it 
grips  you  as  none  of  these  older  cities  does,  and  it 
lingers  in  the  memory  as  something  which  you  can- 
not explain.  It  is  the  greatest  symbol  of  American 
material  achievement,  while  at  the  same  time  it 
represents  all  that  has  been  accomplished  in  the  do- 
main of  the  ideal  by  a  people  who  are  far  more 
given  to  spiritual  things  than  any  of  the  nations 
ofthe  Old  World. 

[162] 


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PLATE   LVIII 

The  Woolworth  Building,  New  York.     The  Tallest 

Building  in  the  World,  Seven  Hundred  and  Ninety-. wo  Feet  High, 

W'th  Fifty-five  Stories  and  Twenty-eight  Elevators;  the  Highest 

Structure  Except  the  Eiffel  Tower.   A  Monumer  t  to  American 

Thrift  and  Opportunity,  as  the  Thirteen  Million  Dollars 

Investment  is  the   Result  of  Thirty   Years'  Work 

by  a    Poor  New   York  Country  Clerk,  Who 

Origin::ted  the  Five  and  Ten  Ctnt  Stores 

(Copyright  by 

Underwood  and  Underwood, 

New  York) 


d-r^I 


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PLATE    LX 

Looking  South  on  Broadway,  New  York, 

Through  the  Canyon  Made  by  Lcftv  Buildings;  The 

Singer  Building  With  the  Flagstaff 

(Copyright  by 

Underwood  and  Underwood 

New  York) 


PLATE   LXI 
The  New  York  Public  Library  at  Night.     One  of  the  Im- 
pressive New  Buildinps  of  New  York,  W'th  Ample  Space  to  Di. 
play  Its  Architectural  Beauties  from  Fifth  Avenue 
(Copyright  by 
Undcrwooii  and  Underwood 
New  York) 


PLATE   LXII 

Wall  Street,  Looking  Toward  Trini  y  Church.     The  Financial 

Center  of  the  New  World.    Trinity  and  Its  Ground  Represents  Twenty 

Million  Dollars  in  Value.     No.   I  Wall  Street,  an  Eighteen  Stoiy 

Building  Only  Twenty-eight  by  Thirty-two  Feet  is 

Built  on  the  Most  Valuable  Bit  of  Ground 

in  the  World 

(Copyright  by 

Underwood  and  Underwood, 

New  York) 


PLATE   LXllI 
New  Municipal  Building,  New  York.     Largest  Public  Building 
in  Til's  Country  Except  the  Capital  at  Washington.     Height  Five 
Hundred  and  Eighty  Feet;  Forty  Storiis;  Cost  Eigh- 
teen Million  Dollars,  Including  the  Site 
(Copyright  b) 
Underwood  and  Underwood, 
New  York) 


Empire 


inker's  Trust 


erican  Surety 


Singer 


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ion  Terminal 


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APPENDIX 


Tips  for  the  Tourist 

Hints  for  Seeing  Things  and  Buying 

Things  That  May  Help 

THE  Traveler 

MUCH  of  the  comfort  of  traveling  in  Europe  depends  upon  the 
smallncss  and  compadlness  of  your  baggage.  If  you  carry 
even  a  small  steamer  trunk,  you  will  wish  before  you  get  back  to 
England  that  the  sea  had  swallowed  it  up  early  in  your  voyage.  A 
trunk  is  a  constant  source  of  worry  and  expense.  As  nothing  is 
ever  checked  in  Europe,  you  must  make  sure  personally  that  this 
piece  of  baggage  is  on  every  train  and  boat.  If  you  don't  look  after 
it  yourself,  the  chances  are  that  it  will  be  left  on  dock  or  station 
platform.  Every  time  it  is  moved  you  not  only  pay  stiff  freight 
charges,  but  tip  every  porter  who  even  looks  at  it. 

Even  a  woman  can  get  all  her  belongings  in  a  large  suit  case 
and  a  hold-all,  which  is  a  god-send  to  the  Continental  traveler. 
These  are  stowed  in  your  compartment  on  every  train,  and  it  is  no 
trouble  to  look  after  them  and  to  point  them  out  to  the  porter. 
Your  steamer  trunk  you  can  leave  in  London  or  Paris  in  storage, 
or  you  can  ship  it  to  other  large  cities,  if  you  are  a  woman  and 
must  have  room  for  fluffy  ruffles  and  evening  gowns.  But  don't 
take  your  trunk  on  tours  of  France,  Italy  or  other  Continental 
countries,  unless  you  have  unlimited  patience  and  money.  You  can 
buy  a  large  leather  suit  case  in  London  for  ten  dollars  that  is  better 
than  can  be  bought  in  any  American  city  for  thirty  dollars.  This 
will  last,  as  the  leather  is  honest  and  all  the  sewing  is  done  by  hand, 
and  will  not  give  way.  The  hold-alls  have  water-proof  cases  and 
they  are  marvels  of  capacity. 

It  is  useless  to  carry  much  clothing,  but  some  things  you 
should  never  take  any  chance  of  wearing  out.  These  are  collars, 
shoes,  and  dental  supplies.  Every  American  has  a  special  collar 
which  fits  his  neck.  Therefore  don't  sail  with  a  small  stock  and 
trust  to  luck  in  supplying  yourself  abroad ;  you  will  work  yourself 
into  a  dangerous  rage  in  this  quest.  The  same  may  be  said  of  shoes. 
Several  American  shoe  manufafturers  do  an  enormous  business 
abroad  as  their  shoes  are  far  superior  to  those  made  in  Europe;  but 
a  man's  own  last  and  number  they  are  sure  not  to  keep  in  stock. 


[•6s] 


Tips  for  the  Tourist 

As  much  of  the  enjoyment  of  travel  depends  upon  the  condition  of 
your  feet,  you  can't  afford  to  take  any  risks  with  strange  shoes. 
In  selefting  steamship  lines,  the  North  German  Lloyd  is  the 
surest  for  comfort.  In  crossing  the  Atlantic,  it  is  always  best  to 
take  ihe  slower  boats,  because  these  are  not  infested  with  the  Amer- 
ican plutocrat,  who  has  not  recovered  from  the  shock  ot  sudden 
weal'.h,  and  his  pestilent  brood  of  spoiled  children.  All  these  unde- 
sirable Americans  crowd  into  the  newest,  swiftest  and  most  luxuri- 
ous boats.  You  pay  an  extra  price  for  berths  on  such  boats  and 
you  get  nothing  in  return  except  the  opportunity  to  study  the  un- 
speakable manners  of  the  insolent  and  uncultured  rich,  who  devour 
squab  and  lobster  a  la  Newberg  with  appetites  that  reveal  recent 
training  on  corned  beef  and  cabbage. 

In  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Orient  the  North  German 
Lloyd  steamers  are  always  to  be  preferred,  as  the  Italian  lines  are 
to  be  avoided.  On  one  of  these  big  German  liners,  everything 
moves  like  clockwork.  Strains  of  music  wake  you  at  seven-thirty 
in  the  morning,  breakfast  is  served  promptly  at  eight,  lunch  at  one 
and  dinner  at  seven.  The  menu  at  all  these  meals  is  lavish  in  good 
things,  with  entrees  and  desserts  at  dinner,  which  are  masterpieces 
of  the  chef's  skill.  Besides  the  regular  meals  there  are  coffee  and 
rolls  at  early  morning  served  in  your  room  or  on  deck,  lemonade 
or  tea  with  sandwiches  at  eleven  in  the  morning  and  at  four  in  the 
afternoon,  and  lemonade  again  on  deck  at  half  past  nine  in  the  even- 
ing. An  orchestra  composed  of  members  of  the  ship' s  staff  discourse 
music  on  deck  at  four  in  the  afternoon,  and  at  dinner  it  plays  a 
selection  of  good  music  and  plays  it  very  well.  As  these  ships  aver- 
age three  hundred  and  fifty  miles  a  day  and  always  sail  and  arrive 
on  time,  is  it  any  wonder  that  they  are  popular  with  Americans? 

Travel  in  Greece  is  still  primitive.  The  trains  are  slow  and 
seldom  on  time:  in  winter  there  is  no  heat.  A  lunch  basket  is  a 
necessity  as  the  stations  furnish  only  the  food  of  the  country,  which 
looks  better  than  it  tastes.  The  Asiatic  Lloyds  is  the  best  steamer 
line  from  Italy  to  Greece.  Don't  patronize  the  Greek  or  Italian 
lines,  or  you  will  regret  it.  The  boats  are  small  and  dirty,  the  food 
is  poor,  and  the  service  worse. 

In  Italy  the  chief  discomfort  of  travel  to  the  American  arises 
from  the  national  objeflion  to  fresh  air.  In  winter  the  stuffiness  of 
the  cars  is  almost  unbearable.  To  open  a  window  is  to  invite  a 
near  riot.  The  only  way  to  avoid  trouble  is  to  stand  in  the  corri- 
dor where  the  opening  of  the  door  gives  some  fresh  air  at  intervals. 

In  Naples  get  rooms  at  any  of  the  hotels  along  the  harbor- 
front,  near  the  Castel  del'Ovo.    If  you  go  on  the  hill,  you  pay 

[1 66] 


Tips  for  the  Tourist 

double  price,  and  every  time  you  stir  out  you  must  take  a  tram-car 
or  a  carriajje  and  waste  a  halt  hour  in  rcacliing  the  heart  of  the  city. 
The  Hotel  Santa  Lucia  was  recommended  to  me  and  I  found  there 
good  rooms  and  board  at  three  dollars  a  day,  with  a  table  that  it  is 
a  pleasure  to  recall.  The  chef  was  an  artist  and  the  maitre  d'hotel 
arranged  for  something  new  and  appetizing  every  day.  It  was  lil;e 
home  with  far  more  than  the  ordinary  home  comforts. 

In  Naples,  spend  as  much  time  as  possible  in  the  museum 
which  is  one  of  the  richest  in  Europe,  li  you  are  a  man,  lion't 
tail  to  see  the  secret  room  in  this  museum,  which  will  give  you 
more  light  on  the  reason  why  Rome  fell  than  all  the  histories.  Also 
make  two  visits  to  Pompeii.  On  the  first  it  is  well  to  go  with  a 
Cook's  party.  Then  go  again,  take  your  lunch,  and  stay  all  day. 
This  is  the  only  way  to  get  the  real  spirit  of  the  place. 

In  Rome  the  best  method  of  absorbing  the  spirit  of  old  Roman 
life  is  to  attend  the  walking  ledures.  Professor  L.  Rcynaud  I  tound 
very  entertaining  and  instrudive.  His  ledlures  on  the  Vatican, 
the  Forum,  the  Capitoline  Hill,  and  his  trips  to  the  Appian  Way, 
Tivoli  and  Hadrian's  Villa  were  rich  in  instruction.  His  schedule 
ot  ledures  may  be  found  at  any  of  the  hotels  or  tourist  agencies. 

Don't  be  inveigled  into  an  English  pension  in  Rome.  These 
places  are  usually  in  old,  musty  buildings,  in  noisy  streets,  with  a 
common  table  at  which  your  neighbor  may  sup  his  soup  and  cat 
with  his  knife.  One  of  the  pleasantest  places  in  Rome  is  the  Hotel 
Boston,  which  caters  to  Americans.  It  is  on  the  Pincian  Hill  where 
the  air  is  good,  and  you  can  get  room  and  excellent  board  for  two 
dollars  a  day. 

There  are  many  temptations  to  spend  money  in  Rome,  especi- 
ally for  jewelry  and  curios.  Don't  buy  any  Roman  pearls  unless 
you  have  the  advice  of  an  expert.  Most  of  them  are  made  by 
Tecla  of  Paris.  Don't  buy  antiques  unless  you  have  an  expert's  ad- 
vice. The  Italian  is  a  past  master  in  manufacturing  antiques.  It 
you  buy  any  small  articles  in  marble  or  lava  in  Rome  or  other 
Italian  cities,  do  not  trust  the  dealer  to  pack  them.  As  a  rule  the 
shop-keepers  are  very  careless  in  packing  and  if  you  trust  them,  you 
are  apt  to  find  your  statuettes  without  arms  or  noses.  There  are 
several  pretentious  shops  near  the  Piazza  di  Spagna,  which  make  a 
specialty  of  Roman  pearls,  but  they  are  to  be  avoided,  as  they 
charge  five  or  ten  times  the  price  asked  for  the  same  goods  in  Ven- 
ice or  Paris. 

Naples  is  famous  for  its  coral  and  lava  work,  as  Rome  is  for 
its  artificial  pearls  and  its  jewelry.  Florence  is  also  one  of  the  best 
cities  in  Europe  for  the  purchase  of  jewelry.    The  work  is  artistic 


[,67] 


Tips  for  the  Tourist 

and  the  prices  are  much  more  reasonable  than  in  Rome.  A  place 
which  is  a  favorite  with  Americans  is  Fratelli  Cappini  at  Borgo 
S.  Lacopo  6.  This  shop  is  across  the  Arno  in  a  mean  little  alley.  In 
front  are  the  goods  and  directly  behind  are  rows  of  benches  at 
which  are  working  young  men  and  women  making  the  jewelry. 
You  can  buy  there  necklaces  of  oxidized  silver,  with  lapis  lazuli, 
topaz,  and  other  stones,  for  one  fifth  what  you  pay  in  this  country. 
Florence  is  rich  also  in  artistic  articles  of  leather  and  morocco. 
Venice  is  famous  for  its  jewelry,  its  lace  and  its  work  in  leather. 
Venetian  point  lace  is  sold  at  about  fifteen  dollars  a  yard.  Every- 
thing made  in  Venice  has  the  color  and  aroma  of  the  Orient. 

In  Paris  the  tourist  must  depend  largely  on  Baedeker  and  his 
own  special  tastes.  The  only  way  to  get  the  real  feel  of  the  Latin 
Quarter  and  of  old  Paris  is  to  walk  through  its  streets  and  spend 
time  in  absorbing  impressions.  As  for  buying  things,  Paris  is  a  sore 
temptation  to  one  who  must  economize  to  reach  home. 

The  best  way  to  get  around  London  quickly  is  by  the  tubes, 
which  are  quicker  than  the  subway  in  New  York.  The  penny 
motor  bus  is  a  great  convenience  for  shorter  distances.  London  is 
one  of  the  best  places  in  Europe  to  buy  things,  especially  clothing. 
What  puzzles  an  American  is  the  cheapness  of  furnishing  goods  and 
clothing. 

Why  should  a  London  shop  be  able  to  make  good  shirts  of 
zephyr  with  an  extra  pair  of  cuffs  for  one  dollar  and  a  half  each, 
for  which  an  American  dealer  charges  you  four  dollars  and  a  half 
each?  The  English  shirt  will  wear  about  three  times  as  long  as  the 
American,  and  you  are  never  bothered  with  seams  ripping  or  buttons 
coming  loose.  You  can  get  a  suit  of  tweed  made  to  order  in  Lon- 
don with  an  extra  pair  of  trousers  for  twenty-five  dollars.  For  a 
similar  suit  in  this  country  you  will  pay  from  forty-five  to  fifty 
dollars. 

In  buying  things  in  Europe  or  the  Orient  one  must  always 
take  into  consideration  the  duty  which  must  be  paid  in  New  York. 
One  hundred  dollars  worth  of  clothes  and  small  articles  are  passed 
free  of  duty.  But  a  friend  of  mine,  who  bought  two  small  table 
covers  in  Hongkong  for  which  she  paid  seventy-five  cents  each, 
was  amazed  when  the  New  York  inspectors  insisted  that  these  were 
worth  five  dollars  apiece  and  charged  her  three  dollars  duty  on  each. 

New  York  dazes  the  foreigner  and  it  has  much  of  this  same 
effect  upon  the  American  who  has  not  seen  it  for  several  years. 
With  the  "rubber  neck"  wagon,  the  auto-buses  and  the  subway 
trains  you  can  see  the  city  very  well  in  two  or  three  days. 


[,68] 


Bibliography 

Books  Which  Throw  Light  on  the 

History,  Art  and  People  of 

European  Countries 

LITTLE  can  be  done  in  this  bibliography^  except  to  in- 
jdicate  the  books  that  I  found  most  helpful.  On 
Italian  art  alone^  several  hundred  books  have  been 
written.  What  I  have  tried  to  do  here  is  to  mention 
the  books  that  best  will  repay  readings  before  the  reader 
sees  the  countries  that  are  described  in  this  volume. 
'The  more  thoroughly  you  master  these  books ^  the  greater 
will  be  the  benefit  you  will  derive  from  seeing  things 
with  your  own  eyes.  If  you  read  nothing  but  the  guide 
books, you  will  gain  very  little  from  a  European  trip, 
as  the  guide  books  do  not  feed  the  imagination. 

GREECE 

The  best  general  work  on  Greece  is  MahafFv's  Rambles  and 
Studies  in  Greece.  Professor  MahafFy  is  one  of  tlie  greatest  living 
authorities  on  Greek  literature  and  archeology.  He  is  saturated 
with  the  Greek  classics,  but  he  never  displays  his  learning,  except 
to  illustrate  a  subjeft.  His  chapters  on  Athens,  and  especially  his 
description  of  the  Parthenon,  are  very  fine.  It  will  be  well  also  to 
read  his  book.  What  Have  the  Greeks  Done  for  Civilixation? 

An  invaluable  book  on  Greek  statuary  and  architefture  is  The 
Art  of  the  Greeks,  by  H.  B.  Walters,  with  many  fine  full-page  rc- 
produdions  of  photographs.  The  British  Museum  has  printed  in 
large  folio  manv  plates  of  the  Elgin  marbles,  with  detailed  descrip- 
tions of  all  the  treasures  of  the  colleftion.  Another  excellent  work 
is  The  Acropolis  of  Athens,  by  Martin  L.  D'Ooge,  which  reviews 
all  the  great  archeological  discoveries  in  Greece  up  to  1908,  with 
an  abundance  of  clear  illustrations  from  photographs.  Other  good 
books  on  Greece  and  Athens  are  Studies  and  Sketches  in  Italy  and 
Greece,  by  J.  A.  Symonds;  The  Customs  and  Lore  of  Modern 
Greece,  by  J.  Rennell  Rodd,  and  Robert  Hichens  descriptions  of 

[,69] 


Bibliography 

Dalmatia  and  Greece,  illustrated  by  Guerin,  which  are  appearing 
in  Scribner's  Magazine.  The  best  short  works  on  Greek  art  are 
Walter's  The  Art  of  the  Greeks,  and  Gardiner's  Handbook  of  Greek 
Sculpture.  For  one  who  wishes  merely  an  outline  ot  Greek  art, 
the  best  summary  is  Percy  Gardner's  monograph  of  twenty-two 
pages  in  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica. 

ITALY 

So  large  is  the  colleftion  of  really  good  books  on  Italy  that  the 
most  rigid  selection  is  necessary.  The  one  book  which  I  found 
more  valuable  than  any  other  is  The  Ideal  Italian  Tour,  by  Henry 
James  Forman,  a  young  American  writer.  It  is  sympathetic,  and 
the  author  has  a  most  picturesque  touch.  Next  to  this  I  should 
place  Roman  Holidays  and  Others,  by  William  Dean  Howells,  full 
of  humor  and  wisdom,  by  one  of  the  best  observers  of  our  day.  In 
Henry  James's  Transatlantic  Sketches,  and  in  Hawthorne's  Notes  of 
Travel,  will  be  found  many  good  things  about  Rome,  Naples  and 
Florence.  A  book  that  reproduces  the  feelings  of  the  tourist  who 
is  fond  of  literature  and  art  is  The  Spell  of  Italy,  by  Caroline  At- 
water  Mason.  John  Addington  Symonds'  Sketches  and  Studies  in 
Italy  ana  Greece,  is  valuable,  as  Symonds  is  one  of  the  best  English 
interpreters  of  the  romance  and  beauty  of  Italian  and  Greek  life 
and  literature.  For  vivid  description  of  Italian  cities,  especially  of 
Venice  and  Florence,  see  Theophile  Gautier's  Travels  in  Italy, 
forming  the  fourth  volume  of  his  collected  works,  in  an  English 
translation.  Here  one  of  the  greatest  of  modern  artists  in  words, 
gives  his  impressions  of  Venice  by  night,  and  of  the  art  and  archi- 
tecture of  Florence.  Equally  skilful,  but  more  modern  is  Henry 
James  in  Italian  Hours,  which  has  been  made  into  a  beautiful  book 
by  fine  full-page  illustrations  in  color  by  Joseph  Pennell.  Katharine 
Hooker  in  Wayfarers  in  Italy,  has  written  one  of  the  best  appre- 
ciations of  this  land  of  art  and  natural  beauty. 

NAPLES 

The  most  picturesque  city  in  Italy  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  a  favorite  with  travelers.  They  are  fond  of  referring  to  its 
noises,  its  odors  and  its  other  repulsive  traits;  but  its  perfect  harbor, 
its  attractive  heights,  and  its  swarming  street  life  will  always  linger 
in  the  memory.  Howells  gives  several  chapters  to  the  city  in 
Roman  Holidays  and  Others,  and  there  are  good  chapters  devoted 
to  the  city  in  Italian  Lanes  and  Highways,  by  Russell  Wood- 
ward Leary,  a  book  of  clever  description.  Albert  Osbourne  de- 
votes an  appreciative  chapter  to  Naples  and  its  surroundings  in 

[170] 


Bibliography 

Finding  the  Worth  White  in  Europe:  this  book  is  of  real  value 
because  it  gives  the  results  of  many  years  of  travel.  Naples,  the 
City  of  Parthenope,  by  Clara  Erskine  Clement,  gives  a  complete 
history  of  the  art  and  people  of  a  city,  which  legend  says  was 
founded  by  a  goddess  cast  upon  this  favored  shore. 

On  Pompeii  one  ot  the  best  books  is  Pompeii,  Its  Life  and 
Art,  by  August  Mau  of  the  German  Archeological  Institute  ot 
Rome.  It  has  elaborate  plans  of  the  various  houses  and  many  good 
illustrations.  Bulwer  in  The  Last  Days  of  Pompeti,  furnishes  a 
graphic  description  of  the  life  ot  this  old  Italian  pleasure  city,  and 
of  the  eruption  of  Vesuvius  which  destroyed  it. 

ROME 

A  large  library  has  been  written  on  ancient  Rome  and  its  re- 
mains. Two  of  the  best  books  are  Ruins  and  Remains  of  Ancient 
Rome,  and  Ancient  Rome  in  the  Light  of  Recent  Discoveries,  by 
Rudolph  Lanciani.  These  with  his  Wanderings  in  the  Roman 
Campagna,  give  a  very  comprehensive  sketch  of  the  ancient  city. 
Middleton's,  The  Remains  of  Ancient  Rome,  is  readable.  For  the 
art  of  Rome,  the  best  short  book  is  Roman  Sculpture,  by  Mrs. 
Arthur  Strong,  which  gives  reproductions  of  photographs  of  all  the 
great  statues  and  reliefs.  Rome,  by  Esther  Singleton,  is  a  valuable 
book  containing  chapters  by  Maeterlinck,  Crawford,  Dickens, 
Ouida,  Hawthorne,  Zola,  Gibbon,  Hugh  Macmillan  and  others. 
In  all  literature  I  know  nothing  so  full  ot  suggestion  to  one  who 
has  seen  Rome  as  Maeterlinck's  chapter  in  this  book.  It  is  a  poet's 
impressions  of  the  Eternal  City.  Very  fine  also  are  the  chapters  on 
the  Vatican  and  the  Palatine  Hill  by  Zola.  The  monograph  in  the 
Encyclopedia  Britannica  on  Ancient  Rome,  by  John  Henry  Middle- 
ton  and  Henry  Stuart  Jones,  is  very  complete  and  has  numerous 
plans  and  maps.  Read  Byron's  Childe  Harold,  for  its  pen-pictures 
of  Rome.  His  verses  on  the  Colosseum,  the  Forum,  and  the  Ap- 
pian  Way  arc  worth  many  readings.  The  scene  of  many  ot 
Marian  Crawford's  novels  are  laid  in  Rome,  and  this  American 
novelist,  who  was  half-Italian  because  of  his  long  residence  at  Sor- 
rento, has  given  in  his  novels  many  truthful  pictures  of  Roman  life 
and  character.  Especially  good  are  Corleone,  Cecilia,  The  Heart  of 
Rome,  and  Saracinesca  and  its  sequels. 

FLORENCE 

A  small  library  of  books  has  been  written  on  Florence,  which 
has  been  the  favorite  winter  home  of  the  English  for  twenty  years. 
Here  was  the  home  of  Robert  Browning  and  his  wife;  here   Mrs. 


[■7>] 


Bibliography 

Browning  wrote  her  Casa  Guidi  Windows  and  Aurora  Leigh,  and 
here  she  died  and  was  buried.  For  general  sketches  of  Florence  no 
book  contains  more  vivid  work  than  Romola,  for  George  Eliot  loved 
Florence  and  knew  it  well.  For  the  architefturc  and  the  art  of 
Florence  no  guide  is  better  than  Ruskin,  although  he  is  an  extrem- 
ist and  one  may  not  be  able  always  to  follow  him  in  his  great  en- 
thusiasms. Useful  books  are  Florentine  Palaces  and  Their  Stories^ 
by  Janet  Ross;  Florence  and  Some  Tuscan  Cities,  by  Clarrissa  GofF, 
with  colored  illustrations  by  Colonel  R.  C.  GofF;  The  Road  in 
Tuscany,  by  Maurice  Hewlett,  which  gives  charming  glimpses  of 
Florence  with  much  out-of-the-way  information.  Grant  Allen's 
Historical  Guide  to  Florence  will  be  found  valuable,  especially  for 
its  information  on  art  and  architedlure,  as  well  as  A  Wanderer  in 
Florence,  by  E.  V.  Lucas. 

VENICE 

Of  course  the  great  book  about  this  city  is  Ruskin's  The 
Stones  of  Venice.  You  can  get  what  you  want  out  of  it  without 
going  through  all  the  volumes.  The  best  things  are  about  the 
Square  of  St.  Mark's  and  the  Doges'  Palace.  More  attractive  to 
the  American  reader  is  Howells'  Venetian  Life,  which  is  as  good 
as  when  it  was  written  nearly  fifty  years  ago.  Howells  was  a 
Consul  in  those  days  before  he  became  a  novelist,  and  this  book  is 
written  by  one  who  had  learned  to  love  the  Venetians  and  their 
unique  city.  For  the  Venice  of  the  period  read  F.  Hopkinson 
Smith's  Gondola  Days.  He  interprets  Venice  with  the  skill  of  an 
artist  and  he  gives  many  charming  glimpses  of  the  days  of  the 
Republic  from  old  writers.  A  small  book  which  is  of  much  value 
for  its  text  and  pictures  is  Things  Seen  in  Venice. 

PARIS 

The  Stones  of  Paris,  by  Benjamin  Ellis  Martin,  gives  good 
sketches  of  the  history  of  the  city  and  its  literary  characters,  with 
a  fine  chapter  devoted  to  Victor  Hugo;  The  By-ways  of  Paris,  and 
Nooks  and  Corners  of  Old  Paris,  by  George  Cain,  curator  of  the 
Carnavalet  Museum  and  one  of  the  authorities  on  Old  Paris,  are 
richly  illustrated;  The  Color  of  Paris,  by  members  of  the  Goncourt 
Academy,  is  excellent  for  description  and  for  the  colored  plates  of 
Parisian  scenes;  very  clever  sketches  of  the  artists'  quarters  may  be 
found  in  Bohemian  Days  in  Paris,  written  by  W.  C.  Morrow, 
from  notes  by  Edouard  Cucuel,  and  with  many  capital  sketches  by 
this  French  artist.  Paris,  by  Esther  Singleton,  is  a  fine  volume 
with  selections  from  Victor  Hugo,  Balzac,  Hamerton,  Renan,  Pros- 


[172] 


Bibliography 

per  Mcriince,  Zola,  Gauticr  and  others.  E.  V.  Lucas'  A  Wan- 
derer in  Paris,  would  be  valuable  alone  for  its  hints  for  seeing  the 
best  things  in  the  Louvre  and  the  other  museums. 

LONDON 

One  of  the  best  books  on  London  is  A  Wanderer  in  London, 
by  E.  V.  Lucas,  with  many  illustrations.  The  author  keeps  tar 
from  the  guide  book,  but  no  one  can  fail  to  get  valuable  hints  from 
his  pages,  especially  in  regard  to  the  historical  and  literary  features 
of  the  city.  Another  good  book,  light  and  sketchy,  is  Three 
Weeks  in  the  British  Isles,  by  John  U.  Higginbothan.  Our  House 
and  London  Out  of  Our  Windows,  hy  Elizabeth  Robins  Fcnneli,is 
noteworthy  for  the  charming  and  unusual  views  of  London  by 
Joseph  Pennell,  especially  of  the  river  views.  Other  good  books 
are:  London  Vanished  and  yanishing,hy  Philip  Norman;  London, 
by  Walter  Besant ;  The  Scenery  of  London,  by  G.  E.  Milton,  with 
pictures  by  Herbert  M.  Marshall;  In  London  Town,  very  graphic 
sketches  with  illustrations  by  F.  Berkeley  Smith,  of  the  theaters  and 
the  night  lite  of  Piccadilly  and  Leicester  Square ;  Bohemia  in  Lon- 
don, by  Arthur  Ransome,  with  clever  pen  and  ink  sketches  by 
Fred  Taylor;  The  Thackeray  Country,  hy  Lewis  Melville,  with 
many  pictures  of  the  homes  of  the  novelist  and  the  scenes  of  his 
works;  The  Dickens  Country,  hy  Frederick  G.  Kilton,  which  does 
the  same  service  for  the  author  of  Pickwick.  Walks  in  London,  by 
Augustus  J.  C.  Hare,  in  two  volumes,  is  as  good  as  when  it  was 
first  written  forty  years  ago.  It  is  rich  in  quotations  from  many 
authors.  London  Films,  by  William  Dean  Howells,  contains  charm- 
ing glimpses  of  famous  places  by  one  who  has  a  genius  for  pictur- 
esque description.  Howells,  more  than  any  other  of  our  writers, 
makes  one  feel  the  kinship  of  the  American  to  historic  shrines  of 
London. 

NEW  YORK 

One  of  the  best  books  on  the  American  metropolis  is  The 
New  New  York,  by  John  C.  Van  Dyke,  with  many  fine  illustra- 
tions by  Joseph  Pennell.  It  sums  up  the  enormous  changes  made 
in  the  city  in  the  last  twenty  years.  A  good  guide  book  for  pic- 
tures is  The  Art  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  New  York,  by 
David  C.  Prayer.  Other  books  are:  Moses  King's  Handbook  of 
New  York;  F.  B.  Kelley's  Historical  Guide  to  the  Cits  of  New 
York;  The  Wasfarer  in  New  York,cd\r.z6.  hy  E.  S.  Martin;  New 
York,  by  Theodore  Roosevelt  j  New  York  Old  and  New,  by  R.  C. 
Wilson. 


[173] 


Index 


Abelard  and  HeloisEj  monument 
to,  in  Pere-Lachaise,  120 

Acropolis  of  Athens,  20-28'  its 
unrivaled  artistic  treasures,  20- 
21  ;  the  Parthenon,  21-24-26; 
the  Erechtheum,  24  -the  Propy- 
lea,  24;  the  Museum,  28 

AcTiuM,  one  of  the  great  naval 
battles  of  the  world,  1 7 

Aden,  at  Gateway  of  Red  Sea,  5- 
8  ;  one  of  hottest  places  in 
world,  5  ;  British  Army  Post, 
5  ;  the  Perseus  cocktail,  5 ;  the 
big  native  city,  6  •  salt  works  of 
Sheik  Othman,  7  j  trade  in  os- 
trich feathers,  8 

Appian  Way,  great  Roman  road 
from  Rome  to  Brindisi,  53-68- 
69 

Arab,  traits  of,  6-7  ;  along  the 
Suez  Canal,  13-14 

Athena,  Pallas,  gold  and  ivory 
statue  of,  by  Phidias,  25 

Athens,  Capital  of  Greece  and 
source  of  all  that  is  best  in  lit- 
erature and  art,  20-32;  Mount 
Hymettus  and  Lykobettos,  21  ; 
the  Parthenon,  22-26;  Theater 
of  Dionysius,  23;  Theater  of 
Herodes  Atticus,  23  ;  the  Pro- 
pylea,  24-  the  Erechtheum,  24; 
the  Elgin  marbles,  26;  Acrop- 
olis Museum,  28-29;  National 
Museum,  29-30;  Arch  of  Ha- 
drian, 30;  monument  of  Lysi- 
kratcs,  30;  the  Theseion,  3  i  ; 
Macaulay's  tribute  to  Athens, 

32 

Bartholome,  sculptor  of  the  mon- 
ument to  the  dead  in  Pere-La- 
chaise, Paris,  I  20 


Brindisi,  southern  end  of  old  Ap. 
pian  Way,  1 5  ;  now  transfer 
point  on  line  from  England  to 
India,  i  5 

Byron,  his  work  for  Greek  inde- 
pendence, 18;  his  death  at 
Missolonghi,  17;  his  amusing 
letters,  1 8  •  fine  pictures  of 
Rome  in  Childe  Harold,  70 

Byzantine,  church  of  Kahnikarea, 
Athens,  30 

Cj^sar,  Julius,  bust  in  Naples 
Museum,  51;  built  Basilica 
Julia,  56 

Carnavalet,  museum  illustrating 
the  history  of  Paris,  1 1 7- 1 1  8 

Cingalese,  natives   of  Colombo, 

3-4 
Cluny,  rich  museum  in  Paris,  1 1 7 

CoLLEONi,  Bartolomeo,  Italian  sol- 
dier commemorated  by  the  best 
statue  in  Venice,  92 

Colombo,  Capital  of  Ceylon,  3- 
4  •  Tamils,  the  common  labor- 
ers, 3  •  world's  greatest  pearl 
market,  4 ;  door  to  the  Orient,  4 

Colosseum,  the  amphitheater  built 
by  the  Flavians,  66-68 ;  de- 
spoiled by  the  Popes,  67  ;  where 
Christians  were  thrown  to  the 
lions,  67-68 

Corfu,  Greek  island  off  the  Al- 
banian coast,  15-17;  Achilleon, 
German  Emperor's  villa,  16- 
17;  ancient  olive  trees,  16 

Corinth,  canal  which  pierces  the 
isthmus  of  Corinth,  Greece, 
18-19 

De  Lesseps,  Ferdinand,  promoter 
of  the  Panama  Canal,  10;  lav- 
ish extravagance  which  ruined 


[•74] 


Index 

Ismail,  I  I  •  statue  at  Port  Said,  Hercui.aneum,  Italian  city  des- 
troyed on  same  day  as  Pom- 
peii, 41-51 

HicHKNs,    Robert,  description   of 
the  Parthenon,  xv 

Hints  to  tourists,  16 5-1  71 

Homer,  head  of  Greek  poet  found 
in  Herculancum,  5  i 

Hugo,  Victor,  his  home  in  Paris, 
II  8- 1  19;  "Notre  Dame  de 
Paris,"  I  I  2-1  I  3 
the  villa  Italy,  the  land  of  art  and  scenic 
beauty,  35-92;  Naples,  rich  in 
ancient  art,  35-43;  Pompeii, 
which  reveals  old  Roman  life, 
44-51;  Rome,  the  most  inter- 
esting city  in  Europe,  52-65; 
the  Appian  Way,  66-72  ;  Tiv- 
oli  and  Hadrian's  villa,  73-75; 
Florence  and  its  art  treasures, 
76-83;  Venice,  the  city  of 
romance,  84-92 


DiONYSius,  Greek  theater  of,  at 
Athens,  23 

Doges'  Palace,  Venice,  89-90 

Elgin  Marbles  in  British  Mu- 
seum, 26,  140 

Emperor  William  of  Germany, 
winter  villa  on  Corfu,  16 

Empress    Elizabeth    of   Austria, 
builder  of  Achilleon  at  Corfu, 
16;    her    tomb    in 
grounds,  I  7 

Florence,  Tuscan  capital  famous 
for  art  and  architecture,  76- 
83  ;  the  Loggia  dei  Lanzi,  77- 
78  ;  the  Palazzo  Vecchio,  79; 
scene  of  Savonarola's  death,  79- 
80;  the  Duomo  or  Cathedral, 
77-80;  the  Campanile  and  the 
Baptistry,  80-8  I  ;  the  Uffizi  and 
Pitti  galleries,  81-83;  ^^^  ^^^'^ 


emy  of  fine  arts,  82;  Michel-    Ithaca,  home  of  Ulysses  and  Pen- 
angelo's  David,  82-83;  tombs        elope,  17 

James,  Henry,  comment  on   New 

York,  153 
Louvre,    great    art     museum     of 

Paris,  1 08- 1  1  I 
London,    England's    capital    and 
world's  largest  city,  123.148; 


of  the  Medicis,  83 

French  Revolution,  relics  of,  in 
Carnavalet  Museum,  i  i  7 

Gambetta,  monument  to,  in  Paris, 
116 

Genoa,  birthplace  of  Columbus, 
95;  fine  sixteenth  century  pal- 
aces, 95;  great  Italian  seaport, 

Greece,  fountainhead  of  literature 
and  art,  15-32;  Corfu,  off  the 
Albanian  coast,  16-17;  Patras, 
port  of  commerce,  18;  Corinth 
and  the  canal,  19;  Athens  and 
the  Acropolis,  20-28 

Hadrian,  his  arch  at  Athens,  30; 
one  of  the  greatest  of  Roman 
builders,  66;  tomb  at  Rome, 
23-24;  villa  at  Tivoli,  74-75 


famous  buildings  and  squares, 
1 24;  motor  buses  and  tubes, 
125;  splendor  of  the  West  End , 
i29;St.Paurs,  I  29- 1  30;  West- 
minster Abbey,  i  30-131;  the 
Temple,  131-144;  the  Tower, 
I  32-1  3  5;  the  Parliament  build- 
ings, 136-137;  in  the  Com- 
mons, 137-139;  i"  t^>c  House 
of  Lords,  139;  the  British  Mu- 
seum, 1 40- 1 41  ;  the  National 
Gallery,  142;  the  Tate  Gal- 
lery, 142- the  Wallace  collec- 


[■7S] 


Ind 

tion,  143-  South  Kensington 
Museum,  143'  literary  slirines 
and  haunts,  144-148'  relics  of 
Shakespeare,  145;  reminders  of 
De  Quincey,  146;  homes  of 
Diclcens  and  Thaclceray,  147- 
1485  Carlylc's  house,  146-147 

Lyons,  important  manufacturing 
city  of  France,  10 1-  handles 
half  the  silk  of  the  world,  loi 

Lysikrates,  who  eredled  a  cho- 
ragic  monument  at  Athens,  30 

Macaulay,  tribute  to  the  influ- 
ence of  Athens,  32 

Metropolitan  Museum  of  art. 
New  York,  160 

Messina,  small  rehabilitation 
since  great  earthquake  of  1 909, 

35 

MissoLONGHi,  Greek  port  where 
Lord  Byron  died  of  fever,  i  7 

Monte  Carlo,  the  world's  most 
famous  gambling  place,  97- 
loi  •  property  of  the  Prince  of 
Monaco,  97-98'  decoration  of 
the  Casino,  98  •  method  of 
gambling  at  roulette  and  bacca- 
rat, 99- 1 00  •  scenes  in  the  Ca- 
sino, 1 00-101  •  apocryphal 
stories  of  suicide,  loi 

Naples,  Italian  city  of  art  and 
natural  beauty,  3  5-43  ;  Posilipo, 
Sorrento  and  Capri,  36'  closely 
built,  37'  one  of  noisest  cities 
in  world,  37  ;  Via  Roma,  form- 
erly the  Toledo,  37-38;  Villa 
Nazionale,  40;  Aquarium,  40- 
41-  Galleria  Umbcrto  Primo, 
41  ;  National  Museum,  41-42  ; 
swarming  street  life,  43 

Napoleon,  his  tomb  in  Paris,  ix- 
105-107  ;two  triumphal  arches, 
105;  souvenirs  in  th    Invalides, 


EX 

1 06- 1 07  J  Regalia  in  the  Lou- 
vre, 109 

NEVf  York,  recent  changes  in, 
151-162;  first  sight  of  Statue  of 
Liberty,  151  ;  the  sky-line  of 
skyscrapers,  I52»  costly  rail- 
road depots,  153-154.  wealth 
displayed  on  Filth  avenue,  155- 
156;  misery  in  tenement  quart- 
er, 158;  Central  Park,  160- 
161  '  Metropolitan  Museum, 
160;  Riverside  Park,  161  ; 
swift  transit  on  the  subway, 
162 

Nice,  famous  winter  resort  on  the 
Riviera,  95-96'  Boulevard  dcs 
Anglais,  96 

Paris,  Capital  of  France  and  lead- 
ing pleasure  city  of  Europe, 
102-120;  magnificent  vistas, 
IC2-103;  avenues  and  boule- 
vards, 103;  importance  of  the 
Seine,  104;  Napoleon's  tomb, 
105-106  ;  Hotel  des  Invalides, 
105-106;  treasures  of  the  Lou- 
vre, 108-1 1 1 ;  the  Luxembourg 
Gallery,  1 1 1  j  Notre  Dame  de 
Paris,  1 1  2- 1 1  3 ;  the  Madeleine, 
113;  the  Pantheon,  i  13.1  14  ; 
the  Grand  Opera-house,  1 1 4- 
1 1  5;  Arches  of  Triumph,  i  i  5- 
1x6;  the  Gambetta  monument, 
116;  Cluny and Carnavalet Mu- 
seums, 1 1 7-1 1  8  ;Viftor  Hugo's 
home,  I  I  8-1  19;  Pere-Lachaise 
cemetery,  i  20 

Pere-Lachaise,  famous  cemetery 
of  Paris,  i  20 

Pompeii,  the  burned  Italian  pleas- 
ure citv,  44-5  I  •  street  of  Nola, 
45  ;  destroyed  by  Vesuvius, 
45.46;  Professor  Fiorelli's  ex- 
cavations, 47  ;  plan  of  Roman 


[,76] 


Index 

houses,  48-  mural  decorations,  St.  Paul's  basilica  at  Rome,  71 

49- the  Mouseot  the  V'etiii,  49;  Socoira,  an  island  in  the   Indian 

the  House  of  the  Faun,  50  Ocean,  5 

Port  Said,  at  Mediterranean  end  Sukz  Canal,  9-1  4  ;   old  Arabian 

ot   Suez    Canal,  lo-ll  ;   statue  town   ot    Suez,  9;    passage   by 

of  Dc  Lesseps,  10  sicanicr,  10-13;   canal  still  in- 

RoME,   Capital   of  Italy,  52-72;  complete,    10 ;    Arab    laborers 

rich  in  historical  and  art  inter-  inefHcicnt,     11-12;    desert    on 

est,  52;  the  modern  city,  54;  both    sides,  12-13;   large  divi- 

thc  Pantheon,  54;  the  Forum,  dends  paid,  14 

55.56  •  the  Capitolinc  Hill,  56  J  Tintoretto,  famous  pictures  in 

the  Palatine  Hill,  57;  arch  of  Venice,  92 

Septimus  Severus,  58;  arch  of  Titian,  Assumption   of  the  \'ir- 

Titus,  56  ;  St.  Peter's,  59-61  ;  gin,  92 

the  Vatican,  61-64;   the   Bor-  Vatican,  the,  home  of  the  Popes, 

ghese      Gallery,    65;     Guido  62-65 ;  gallery  of  sculpture,  62- 

Reni's     Beatrice      Cenci,    65;  63;    the    Sistine    Chapel,    63; 

Fountain    of   Trcvi,    65;    the  "The    Last    Judgment,"    64; 

Colosseum,  66-68;  the  Appian  Stanze     of     Raphael,    63-64; 

Way,  68;  Baths  of  Caracalla,  Raphael's    "Transfiguration," 

68;  the   catacombs,  69;    Quo  64 

Vadis    Church,   69'    tomb    of  Venice,  the  unique  city  of  Europe, 

Cecilia  Metella,  70  ;  the  Cam-  84-92;    gondolas   and    gondo- 

pagna,  70-71;   basilica    of  St.  Hers,  84-85  ;  the  Grand  Canal, 

Paul's,  71  •  graves  of  Keats  and  84-85;  hotels   in   old    palaces, 

Shelley,  72  85;   historical    palaces    on    the 

RusKiN,  Seven    Lamps   of  Archi-  Grand   Canal,    86-87;    Square 

tenure,  80  of  St.  Mark,  87-88;  St.  Mark's 

St.  Mark's  Cathedral,  Venice,  Cathedral,  88-89  ;   the  Doges' 

88-89  Palace,     90-91  ;     feeding     the 

St.  Peter's  of  Rome,  the  greatest  pigeons,  91;   churches  and   art 

religious  shrine  in  Christendom,  collections,  92 

59-61  ;    Michelangelo's  work,  Venus  of  Melos,  in  the   Louvre, 

60-61  ;  Canova's  masterpieces,  108 

61  Veronese,    Paul,    celebrated    pic- 

Salamis,  scene  of  the  destruction  tures  in  Venice,  92 

of  Persian  fleet  by  the  Greeks,  Vesuvius,   active    volcano    which 

19  overlooks    Naples,    36;    its   dc- 

ScYLLA  AND  Charybdis,  historical  struction  of  Pompeii,  45-46 

rocks  near  Straits  of  Messina,  3  5  Villa    d'Este,    beautiful     Italian 

St.    Paul,  lived  as  tent-maker  at  garden  near  Tivoli,  75 

Corinth,  19;  preached  on  Hill  Winged  Victory  of  Samothrace 

of  Mars,  Athens,  30  in  the  Louvre,  108-109 


AND  SO  ENDS  THE  CRITIC  IN  THE  OCCIDENT,  CONTAINING 
THE  IMPRESSIONS  OF  GEORGE  HAMLIN  FITCH  ON  THE 
LAST  HALF  OF  HIS  TRIP  AROUND  THE  WORLD,  PUB- 
LISHED IN  BOOK  FORM  BY  PAUL  ELDER  &  COMPANY 
AND  SEEN  THROUGH  THEIR  TOMOYE  PRESS  BY  JOHN 
SWART  DURING  THE  MONTH  OF  SEPTEMBER,  MCMXIII,  IN 
THE  CITY  OF  SAN  FRANCISCO 


<-s. 


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